Srinagar, Feb 15 : The Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has expressed strong concern over incompetent officers being assigned to investigate cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, despite the grave nature of such offences.
A Division Bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Muhammad Yousuf Wani observed that drug-related crimes are surging, particularly affecting adolescents and students. The Court lamented that while narcotics seizures are frequent, many genuine cases end in acquittals due to flawed, careless, and unscientific investigations, with authorities routinely violating mandatory provisions of the NDPS Act.
"It is shocking that most genuine NDPS cases collapse due to casual, unfair, and faulty investigations. The mandatory provisions under the NDPS Act are being disregarded," the Bench noted, calling for competent officers to handle narcotics cases with diligence and professionalism.
The Court urged the Central and J&K governments to ensure that only experienced officers lead NDPS investigations, as mandated by law.
The observations came while upholding the acquittal of two men accused of smuggling 10,000 painkiller capsules into Kathua. The trial court had dismissed the case in 2015 due to a lack of evidence, prompting an appeal by the J&K government. However, the High Court found serious contradictions in the prosecution's claims, including irregularities in the seizure and sampling of the alleged contraband. The magistrate, who was supposed to verify the recovered drugs, merely sealed the packets without inspecting them.
The Court ruled that the state failed to establish even a prima facie case against the accused. As a result, the High Court dismissed the government’s appeal, reaffirming the acquittal.
Additional Advocate General Ravinder Gupta represented the J&K government, while Advocate Arun Dev Singh appeared for the accused. [KNT]
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