Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has directed the authorities that the investigation of cases under Narcotics Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act be conducted by a specialised cell or a team of officers under an officer not below the rank of a sub-inspector.
Dismissing an appeal against an order of acquittal of two accused persons under the Act by the trial court, a division bench comprising Justices Atul Sreedharan and M Y Wani ruled “investigation of cases under NDPS be henceforth conducted by a specialized cell/team of officers specifically trained to deal with cases under the NDPS Act with an officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector as its head under the close supervision of a gazetted officer, who shall monitor the progress of investigation on day to day basis and issue written guidelines to the team”.
The trial court had acquitted two persons from Rajouri, Jammu, for a botched up investigation against them for allegedly carrying and trading a specific quantity of psychotropic drugs.
The division bench held “we are of the view that the learned trial court has rightly appreciated the evidence adduced by the prosecution at the trial and while doing so, has justly opined that the prosecution has failed at the trial to bring home the guilt of the respondents beyond any shadow of doubt. There appears to be no illegality or perversity with the impugned judgment”.
It said “it is an accepted principle of criminal jurisprudence that an accused person is presumed to be innocent till he is proved guilty and the burden of proving everything essential to establish his/her guilt lies on the prosecution/State. There must be a clear and unequivocal proof of corpus delicti.”
“The prosecution should stand or fall on its own legs and it cannot derive any benefit from the weaknesses of the defense. Suspicion however strong cannot take the place of legal proof. There lies a long mental distance between ‘may be true’ and ‘must be true’. The vital distinction between conjectures and sure conclusions needs to be maintained in criminal trials.”
It directed that a good number of the qualified and competent officers should be sent for refresher courses by the Home department to learn the drug law administration and enforcement including NDPS and PITNDPS Acts and rules framed thereunder.
The judges remarked “we shall be failing in our duty by not directing that NDPS cases shall be tried under law, by the special courts under the Act and by other Sessions court with utmost diligence as priority sector litigation.”
