Drug menace in Punjab appears to be touching new heights: HC

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, January 28

While rapping the police for their “callously casual approach” towards official duty in a drugs case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted that drug menace in Punjab appeared to be touching new heights with each passing day.

The Bench asserted such conduct was least expected as the officials were duty bound to check the crime graph in the state, especially when drug menace had become deep rooted and was taking its toll like “a slow poison” on the youths.

Justice Meenakshi I Mehta also admonished the Punjab Food and Drug Administration for waking up from “deep slumber” only after the Bench took a note of certain facts during the course of hearing. “The conduct on the part of the authorities mentioned is highly deplorable and it speaks volumes of their questionable acts and omissions, which pose a serious challenge for the state in tackling with the drug menace which seems to be touching new heights with every passing day,” Justice Mehta asserted.

The matter was brought to Justice Mehta’s notice after bail and other pleas were filed by two accused in a case registered on April 13, 2021, at Rureke Kalan police station in Barnala under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Taking into consideration the facts of the case, Justice Mehta allowed regular bail. Before parting, Justice Mehta asserted the court was constrained to express “deep concern and anguish over the manner in which the authorities concerned dealt with the case at different relevant stages”.

Referring to the status reports/replies, Justice Mehta asserted the police officers mentioned different spellings of the tablets allegedly recovered in the case without realising the repercussions and consequent legal implications.

This was despite the fact that they were supposed to be well-versed with the same and required to deal with such matters with utmost sincerity and caution. Justice Mehta added it was “unpleasantly surprising” to note that Assistant Commissioner Drugs, FDA, Punjab, issued a letter to a pharmaceutical company for cancelling permission to manufacture formulations containing ‘tramadol hydrochloride’ salt. But FSL reports said tablets with the same brand name — allegedly recovered in the case — contained ‘pregabalin’.

Even if the brand name used was taken to be not within the FDA’s domain, the fact remained that the department was supposed to check and supervise the drugs being manufactured in the state to ensure strict compliance of relevant law/rules. “The subsequent use of same brand name by the manufacturer for manufacturing the tablets containing a different salt is likely to lead to grave consequences as the same can result in serious health hazards for the patients as well as the public at large”.