Madras HC contemplates setting up a monitoring panel to curb drug menace in T.N.

Justices D. Krishnakumar and P.B. Balaji also order display of notice boards against drugs in all schools and colleges in the State

The Madras High Court is mulling over the constitution of an inter-departmental monitoring committee, comprising officials from the State government, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in order to ensure a “drugs free Tamil Nadu.”

The Second Division Bench of Justices D. Krishnakumar and P.B. Balaji said a senior officer in the rank of Secretary to the Government could be appointed as the chairperson of the committee, and called for the names of the officers, who could be appointed to it, from the Centre and State governments.

The Bench recorded the submission of Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan, representing the Centre, and Additional Advocate General (AAG) J. Ravindran, representing the State government, that the names of the officials would be submitted before the court, in a sealed cover, by Thursday (November 21, 2024).

The judges felt the necessity for a monitoring committee for the purpose of overseeing the performance of the Enforcement Bureau-Crime Investigation Department (EB-CID) and making necessary suggestions to the State govenrment for curtailing the sale of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

Notice boards in schools, colleges

The Division Bench also issued a direction to the Directors of School Education and Collegiate Education to issue a circular instructing all schools and colleges to put up notice boards clearly describing the consequences of the use and sale of ganja, opiate, cannabis, cocaine, opium, morphine, heroin, and so on.

The notice boards must also list out the punishment under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and mention the toll-free number 10581 created by the State government. Further, a complaint box must also be placed on the campus of all educational institutions, the court ordered.

Directing educational authorities, legal aid services authorities, as well as Scouts and National Cadet Corps (NCC) to conduct awareness programmes, the judges ordered that educational authorities and the police must conduct periodical inspections in and around schools and colleges.

Making it clear that principals as well as headmasters/headmistresses must be vigilant in curtailing substance abuse, the court directed the police and local body authorities to crack down on sale of prohibited substances within a radius of 100 m from educational institutions.

The judges directed the AAG to submit by Thursday a list of items such as chocolates, biscuits, and stationery that could be permitted to be sold within a distance of 100 m from schools and colleges so that the court could issue further directions to the educational authorities in that regard.

The interim orders were passed after taking note that the State police had booked 1,727 cases under the NDPS Act, arrested 2,262 suspects, and seized 7,236 kg of ganja; 45ml of ganja oil; two kg of hasish oil; 40,464 ganja chocolates; and 93.610 kg of other drugs in 2023.

Further, 675 NDPS Act cases had been booked, 902 suspects had been arrested, and 2,720 kg of ganja; 3,458 ganja chocolates; and 7.319 kg of other drugs had been seized till September 2024. In addition, 368 vehicles used for transportation had been seized between January 2023 and September 2024.

Taking note of news reports of narcotic substances being delivered even through couriers, the judges felt that the current strength of police personnel (belonging to both EB-CID and local police stations) might not be sufficient to effectively curb the menace of drugs, especially among students.

Therefore, they insisted on establishing a monitoring committee to guide the police.

Published - November 18, 2024 03:36 pm IST