sEven years ago, Investigation by The Indian Express inside the Comrade Punjab The arrests revealed a startling pattern: nearly half of the FIRs filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for alleged possession were fake FIRs – each echoing the other word for word.
Not much has changed.
The Indian Express examined 11,156 FIRs registered under the NDPS Act between April 1, 2022 and February 28, 2023 — the period when the state police submitted a summary of its anti-drug efforts to the association — and found the same pattern.
The scenario is all too familiar: A routine patrol of policemen, looking for the ‘bad guys’, bump into suspicious individuals carrying polythene bags, which they try to quickly dispose of before being arrested.
Whether it is the “momi levafa” (polythene) that is almost always found in the suspect’s right hand, the refusal of bystanders to become witnesses to a seizure while citing “magpuri” (coercion), or the faith the accused places in letting the cops By searching them without the presence of a gazetted officer or a duty judge as required by law: More than half of the FIRs show more cut-and-paste than due process.
The absence of independent witnesses and the sudden eagerness of suspects to subject themselves to police searches put question marks over the process itself. Records show that such “voluntary” searches often take place after the accused has the option of submitting to the search in the presence of a magistrate or a gazetted officer, in accordance with Section 50 of the NDPS Act 1985.
The scenario is identical even in cases where individuals are caught while using drugs. Individuals accused of “sniffing/smoking heroin” are usually discovered behind bushes or near walls, in vehicles, often with silver foil, 10-rupee notes used to snort the substance, and half-burnt matches or lighters.
Consider these 10 illustrative examples from 10 regions in the state:
○ To No. 87 District Police Commissioner Amritsar, Cantt Police Station (04/04/2022)
A group of police were patrolling looking for the “bad guys” when they spotted a Swift Dzire coming from the opposite direction. On seeing the policemen, the young driver stopped his car and took out a polythene bag from his right trouser pocket and tried to throw it away. He was arrested. The police asked passers-by to become witnesses, but no one agreed.
○ Fir area number. 127 Ludhiana Taiba Police Station (06/21/2022)
A group of police was patrolling in a private car searching for Bhide Purush. Upon seeing them, a man sitting in the park tried to throw away the polythene bag he was carrying. He was arrested and subsequently told that he could be searched in the presence of a judge or a gazetted officer, but he volunteered to allow the police to search him. Police found 5 grams of heroin in a polythene bag.
➡ Fir No. 19 Mansa Bahkhi Police Station (02/02/2023)
A group of police was patrolling looking for “suspicious men” at night. In the search lights, a woman was seen walking towards the police with a polythene bag in her right hand. When she saw the police, she turned around. She’s been arrested. Efforts to obtain a witness from the public were unsuccessful… so she volunteered to let the police search her. Seven grams of heroin were found in his possession.
➡ Fir No. 155 Ferozepur Lakhu Ki Bahram Police Station (12/27/2022)
A group of police were patrolling in a private car with a laptop and printer, looking for the “bad guys.” On seeing the police, a man on foot turned around and took out a polythene bag from his right trouser pocket and tried to throw it away. He was arrested and asked to identify himself. He volunteered to have himself searched by the police team. Efforts were made to obtain a witness from the public, but no one agreed. 22 grams of heroin were found in his possession.
➡Fir area number. 0463 Kapurthala Kotwali Police Station (12/26/2022)
The FIR states that the police group was patrolling for ‘Bhide Purush’ when they saw a woman wrapped in a shawl near Bhila Mor. When she saw the police, she tried to run away but the police group overpowered her and found the “wajandar kala mumi levava” (heavy black plastic bag) in the nearby grass. They tried to bring passers-by as witnesses, but the people mentioned “Al-Majbour” and left. They opened the bag and found 600 tablets of etizolam. The woman could not produce any bills and was booked under the NDPS Act.
➡ Fir No. 0097 Mukhtar Sahib Police Station (06/29/2022)
The police group was patrolling looking for suspicious men when they were on their way from Kabarwala village to Sarawa Budla, they came across two women on Budla Bridge taking out a transparent leva object in their right hands. Upon seeing the police’s Scorpio lights, they dropped the polythene and attempted to sneak away to the right but were overpowered. The police then saw “Nashili Julian” through the transparent packages lying on the ground. No ordinary person agreed to become a witness. The women were told they had the right to inspect the polythene in the presence of a gazetted officer or a duty judge, but they told police officers they had complete “faith” in them. Upon inspection, the police found 22 boxes of Tramadol tablets.
○ To No. 0152 Gurdaspur Police Station (04/12/2022)
A group of police was on patrol searching for Bahidi Aadmi when they saw a woman holding a black polythene in her right hand. When she saw the police group, she tried to go back and threw the bag aside. The police overpowered her and then informed the local ASI. He arrived at the scene and told the woman she had the right to search the polythene in the presence of a gazetted officer or a duty judge, but she expressed her “faith” in the police, who then counted 1,010 white tablets that contained nothing. Tags. No civilians agreed to be witnesses.
○ FIR No. 0084, Chhapiwal, Hoshiarpur Police Station (23/07/2022)
A group of police set up a naka in Mujupatti when they saw a speeding Alto car. They signaled her to stop by torch light. The car stopped and its two occupants, one male and one female, attempted to escape. They were overpowered and told by police that they had the right to be searched in the presence of a gazetted officer or a duty judge. None of the bystanders agreed to become a witness. So the cops searched the car and found 45 grams of heroin and Rs 11,550 as drug money.
➡ Fir No. 131 Jalandhar Rural, Vellore Police Station (05/30/2022)
A group of police, with a laptop and printer, were patrolling in a private car looking for the “bad guys.” A woman was seen walking carrying a polythene bag in her left hand. When she saw the police, she turned around and dropped the polythene bag. She was arrested and asked to identify herself. She was told that she could search herself in the presence of a judge or gazetted officer. But she volunteered to be searched by the police team. Efforts were made to obtain a witness from the public, but no one agreed. 5 grams of heroin were found in his possession.
➡ Fir No. 108 Tarn Taran Bhikwind Police Station (10/02/2022)
A police squad was patrolling looking for the “bad men.” Upon seeing the police, a man on foot took out a polythene bag from his right trouser pocket and tried to throw it away. He was arrested and asked to identify himself. Despite being told that he could be searched in the presence of a judge or a gazetted officer, he volunteered to be searched by the police team. Efforts were made to obtain a witness from the public, but no one agreed. 7 grams of heroin were found in his possession.
Red flags
Legal experts representing defendants in these NDPS cases have often raised concerns about these repeated actions, describing them as “major inconsistencies” in police operations. “Using this mechanical provision while registering such reports coupled with ignoring the mandatory provisions of the NDPS Act is one of the reasons why many such cases fall flat,” says advocate Vivek Thakur, who handles NDPS cases in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Making a similar observation in the NDPS case in 2021, Justice Arvind Kumar Sangwan of the Supreme Court commented: “It has been observed in several cases that the investigating officers, while conducting investigation under the NDPS Act, do not adhere to the mandatory provisions of the Act. the law. Lawyers say defendants exploit these discrepancies to argue that they were involved and be acquitted.
However, in a statement to the HC recently, Punjab Police Chief DGP Gaurav Yadav said the conviction rate in the state stands at 80 per cent. But according to the data shared by the Punjab Police in the Supreme Court on November 2, there are 16,149 cases under the NDPS Act where charges were framed by trial courts before October 7, 2021, but are still under trial till October 23. , 2023.
Retired DGP Shashikant of Punjab attributed the cut-and-paste language in these FIRs to poorly trained junior police officers. “All police organizations need continuing education at the latest level of the force, but in its absence, police at ASI level or at sub-inspectors level who write these reports continue to rely on outdated tropes of ‘momi lifafa’ and others.”
