“Undermines Faith Of Common Man In Criminal Justice”: J&K High Court Calls For SITs To Address “Casual Probes” In NDPS Cases

Emphasising the urgent need for specialized investigative teams to handle cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has observed that casual, unfair, and non-scientific investigations in NDPS cases creates a sense of insecurity and undermine the faith of the common man in the administration of the criminal justice. Directing that investigations henceforth be carried out by specialized teams trained specifically for NDPS cases and supervised by officers not below the rank of Sub-Inspector, with oversight from gazetted officers a bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Mohammad Yousuf Wani observed, “It is shocking that most factual and genuine cases in relation to offences under NDPS Act end in acquittals mainly on account of casual, cavalier, unfair, faulty and non-scientific investigations. Relying on precedents, the Court referred to Noor Aga vs. State of Punjab 16 SCC 417 and Balwinder Singh vs. Narcotics Control Bureau to reiterate that procedural safeguards under the NDPS Act are not mere formalities but are mandatory to ensure fair trials. Quoting from Noor Aga's judgment, the Court emphasized that “the extent of burden to prove the foundational facts on the prosecution is more onerous,” particularly given the stringent punishments under the NDPS Act.