Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: August 3, 2022 at 19:44 IST
The investigating officers (IOs) probing into drug cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act must finish their investigations within 180 days, according to a Punjab and Haryana High court order to the DGPs of Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
The High Court further directed the police chiefs to ensure that sample collected in such cases are also sent to the Forensic Science Laboratories for chemical examination (FSLs).
The High Court directed the administrations of the two states and the UT to ensure the prompt deployment of chemical examiners at all the FSLs in concern. If there is a shortage of chemical examiners at any of the FSLs in question, the High Court ordered that the shortfall be immediately made good.
The HC observed that the period of 180 days is more than ample and adequate for completing the investigation into an offence under the NDPS Act while providing the directives, but is being permitted to elapse.
When Justice Sureshwar Thakur heard a plea from Jaswinder Singh challenging the decision of Fatehabad Additional Sessions Judge to reject his plea for bail on November 11, 2021.
The petitioner was booked in September 2020 as a result of an NDPS Act complaint registered at the Tohana Sadar police station in the Fatehabad district of Haryana. He was found to be in possession of 700 strips of 100 mg Tramadol tablets. Clovidol-100 SR weighing 3 kilogramme and 714 grammes and with the batch numbers TVD-20301, MFC-AUG-2020, and EXP-JUL2023. Due to the weight, it was a commercial quantity under the Act. The police had 180 days to submit the challan against the petitioner, therefore he asked to be released on default bail.
