Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Saturday expressed concern over the delay in under-trial narcotics cases.

The court observed that there had been no visible improvement in investigation and prosecution [in narcotics-related cases] despite the expenditure of millions of rupees by the government.

“Any investigation, relating to narcotics cases, conducted beyond 15-days is not only irregular, but also unacceptable to the court. We have noted in many cases relating to narcotics that completion of investigation required two days. Only the chemical examiner’s report sometimes is awaited for a week or two. After the amendment of Section 167 in Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and other relevant provisions, the legislature fixed the period of investigation and the submission of chalan in strict sense, drawing a demarcation line clearly. Therefore, any investigation conducted beyond 15-days is not only irregular, but also unacceptable to the court because the government is spending millions of rupees on the new system of prosecution. However, we see no visible improvement in these matters,” Justice Dost Muhammad Khan said.

The court was hearing a bail petition filed by Sidra Iram, who had been arrested from Peshawar on charges of drugs possession.

“This is not the first omission on the part of such a specialised force, called the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), established specifically to eradicate this menace. However, in majority of the cases, only poor carriers are netted, while the real beneficiaries, the smugglers, are not even touched, nor solid evidence is collected against them. For this reason, the narcotics business has not been curtailed in an effective manner, which is a heinous offence against humanity,” the court observed.

The petition was heard by a three-member bench, headed by Justice Dost Muhammad Khan. The petitioner’s counsel said that he was willing not to pursue the request if the trial was not delayed.

The bench accepted the plea and directed the trial court to conclude the trial within three months. “If the case is not decided within the time, then the accused would not be responsible and she would be entitled to be released on bail,” the court stated.

The court stated that the delay in the submission of challan in the case after a delay of five months was shocking.

“This is not the first case, but in every case, invariably a similar style is adopted by the police or other agencies dealing with such cases,” the court observed.

The court further noted that the petitioner, a mother of two young children, had been languishing behind bars for the past seven months. “The investigation officer, without any justification, is sitting over the case. The delay in submission of chalan by the IO is a clear violation of the statutory law. No effort was made to trace the source and the intended destination of the drugs,” the court stated. The petition had been filed with a delay of nine days. However, the court condoned the delay in the interest of justice.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had taken suo moto notice on a written note sent to him by Justice Khan.

The judge had written for opening a separate file along with notices to the ANF DG and all the DGs of prosecution in the provinces and the Federal Capital Territory.

He had also sought explanation from the officials why they had failed to introduce improvements by building and enhancing the capacity of investigation and prosecution to put the system into the correct channels and to abide by the law despite the expenditure of millions of rupees by the government on the initiative.

The chief justice also directed the registrar to fix the matter for hearing in the near future.