It is high time that investigating agencies like the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) act like Chanakya to remove the menace of narcotics from the grassroots, the Karnataka High Court said while taking note of high-profile drug peddling cases in recent days.
“There is a trend of inculcation of drugs, ganja and other such substances in society by various transactions. It has created a menace for society. Such things are to be dealt with an iron hand. They [drug peddlers] could not be spared even for a while,” the court observed.
Justice B.A. Patil made these observations while quashing a seven-year-old case registered against a man for allegedly possessing dry leaves of cannabis (ganja).
Observing that nowadays high-profile drug peddling is increasing, the court said that increasing circulation of drugs would seriously affect society, particularly harming the younger generation, college-going children, besides promoting other crime. The menace of drugs, which affects the future of youngsters, will have to be removed from the root like Chanakya “who removed the stump of grass from the root as it obstructed his movement,” the court observed.
However, the court absolved accused Abdul Saleem, a resident of Lakkasandra, of the charge of possessing ganja as he had only been found possessing dried leaves dark brown in colour when the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, defines ganja as “flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant (excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops).”
Moreover, the court also found that there was no report of chemical analysis to indicate that the leaves contained 25% tetrahydrocannabinol to call it ganja as per the provision of the Act.