Published Sep 16, 2024 | 8:03 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 16, 2024 | 8:03 PM
The state told the court that without adequate data, it was impossible to choose rational policy.
The Karnataka High Court ordered disciplinary action against three police officers over filing a false charge sheet against two individuals accused of consuming narcotic substances, despite a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report indicating no presence of any contraband in their bodies.
A single-judge bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasann on 10 September accepted the petition filed by Hanumantha and another, thereby nullifying the prosecution lodged against them under Section 27 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
In 2019, Police officer Raj Kumar, who was on probation, claimed to have received credible information about individuals consuming marijuana near Krupanidhi College in the Varthur Police Station jurisdiction.
Consequently, a complaint was registered, and blood samples of the petitioners were taken and sent to the FSL for analysis. The FSL report, however, found no traces of any contraband substance, including marijuana in the samples. Despite this, the police officer proceeded to file a charge sheet, and the court accepted it.
Arguing for the dismissal of the charges, the petitioners contended that they had been deliberately framed to harass them, resulting in missed employment opportunities. They further stated that they had received job offers from the USA but were unable to pursue them due to the ongoing case.
The prosecution, in seeking the petition’s dismissal, acknowledged the inconsistency between the FSL report and the charge sheet filed by the Varthur police. It was claimed that the petitioners were found in possession of 15 gram of marijuana, which was not sent to the FSL as required by law.
Upon reviewing the case, the court noted that Section 27 of the NDPS Act makes consuming any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance a punishable offence, with a potential sentence of one year in prison, with or without a fine. To prove consumption, however, the primary evidence must be the detection of contraband in the blood samples.
The station house officer admitted to making a mistake while filing the charge sheet about this case registered against two individuals.
The court ordered that any kind of embargo hanging on the head of the petitioners for travel abroad was obliterated, except otherwise disentitled.
It asked the court to take action and pace a report before it within 12 weeks.
The court ordered the competent authority – DG & IG or the Secretary of the Home Department — to issue a circular notifying all the officers who are empowered to conduct search and seize contraband substances to mandatorily follow Sections 50 and 52A of the NDPS Act and their interpretation by the Supreme Court in Ranjan Kumar Chadha case.
It also asked to take action against those officers who defy the specified sections of the Act.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
