Delhi High Court: Menace of drug abuse on the rise; affects economy, causes societal disintegration [Read Order]

The menace of drug abuse is on the rise in India and the consequences of the same range from causing economic issues to societal disintegration, said the Delhi High Court recently while rejecting the bail plea of foreign national who was allegedly found in possession of contraband in the national capital [Madan Lama v. Narcotics Control Bureau]..Justice Subramonium Prasad further noted that the petitioner, being a citizen of Nepal, had no roots in the society and could be considered a potential flight-risk. “Thus he satisfies the factor that there exists the danger of him absconding or fleeing from justice, if released on bail,” the Court said.The Court also couldn’t rule out the possibility that if the petitioner was released, he would not repeat the offence. It also noted the petitioner’s involvement in offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and concluded that the same cannot be equated with offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or other offences.“The harmful effects of drugs on an individual and on the society have been researched extensively and are well known. The menace of drug abuse is also on the rise in the country and the consequences of the same can be experienced across the board from causing economic issues to societal disintegration. The purpose of enacting the NDPS Act was to curb this menace,” the order noted.It further opined that the purpose must be kept in mind while considering the grant of bail in matters pertaining to the NDPS Act. “The petitioner is also alleged to have committed an offence which is punishable up to 10 years of imprisonment,” the order said..The harmful effects of drugs on an individual and on the society have been researched extensively and are well known.Delhi High Court.The petitioner, Madan Lama was reportedly found in possession of 46 small zip-lock packets and some cash in December 2020 whereas one packet was stated to have been found in possession of one Haresh Rawal in East of Kailash, New Delhi. Of the total of 47 packets, 22 packets contained small discs of circle-shaped substances, nine packets contained small stick-shaped substances and the rest 16 had small stone-shaped substances. The 22 packets were stated to have tested positive for charas or hashish.Before the High Court, counsel for the petitioner argued that the packets recovered from the petitioner were not separately weighed, and that all the samples were sent together for chemical analysis. It is further stated that the samples were drawn after 50 days of the alleged recovery, in violation of a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) standing order.He also contended that the NCB couldn’t have distinguished between the petitioner and Rawal and therefore the petitioner ought to be granted bail. It is also stated that the quantity which was seized from the petitioner was an “intermediate quantity” and the rigour of Section 37 of the NDPS Act couldn’t be applied..The Special Public Prosecutor argued that the petitioner was a supplier of drugs and therefore it couldn’t be ruled out that he won’t do the same when granted bail. It was also submitted that his case was different from that of Rawal’s.The order stated that the petitioner’s footing was different from the case of Rawal, who was granted bail on June 3, 2021 as charges were yet to be framed in the instant case. Further, the chances of the petitioner jumping bail couldn’t be ruled out as he was not a resident of India.Advocate Rahul Dev Tyagi argued for the petitioner whereas SPP Subhash Bansal represented the NCB..[Read order]