Expressing displeasure over investigation & prosecution of cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh issued a slew of guidelines to the police & special Courts dealing with the cases.
The HC observed that in the cases registered under the NDPS Act, drivers of the vehicles & other inmates are being shown as the accused while the kingpins of the trade are never included as the accused. She observed that the police are conducting investigations in a casual manner without taking into account the social impact of the drugs.
Justice Lalitha Kanneganti in her recent judgment before she was transferred to the High Court of Telangana, said that the special court at Visakhapatnam dealing with the NDPS cases is not taking steps to number & list the cases. Even the bail applications & extension of custody applications are not being heard in accordance with the Top Court guidelines, she noted.
Granting bail to the driver & cleaner of a vehicle caught with a contraband, Justice Lalitha noted that according to the Supreme Court guidelines, if the chargesheet was not filed by the investigating agency, the accused would have an indefeasible right to bail which cannot be rejected.
She said that if the investigating agency did not file an application for extension, the courts should consider that the accused is deemed to be eligible for bail.
Justice Lalitha further noted that the high court has been getting several cases where the accused has been languishing in judicial remand for more than six months. Though several copies of the order have been sent to the Director-General of Police (DGP), these cases continue to come up before the high court. However, she noted that the DGP in his counter affidavit explained the steps taken to sensitise the unit officers following the directions of the high court.
Justice Lalitha observed that there seems to be large scale cultivation of ganja in Agency areas and the locals do not have a clue about its legal implications. She suggested establishing a special wing to investigate these cases & also to sensitise locals by conducting awareness drives. She directed taking action against the public prosecutors & assistant public prosecutors who failed to file extension petitions even after the police requested them.
Justice Lalitha also directed the special judge who deals with the NDPS cases to file an affidavit stating the details of the number of bail petitions filed, when they are numbered after filing, when they were heard & when the orders were passed in those petitions.
Justice Lalitha Kanneganti in her recent judgment said the special court dealing with NDPS cases is not taking steps to number & list the cases. Even the bail applications & extension of custody applications are not being heard in accordance with Supreme Court guidelines.
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