NEW DELHI: Looks like seized narcotics have the uncanny knack of disappearing in the country, going by a report submitted to the Supreme Court.
Data submitted in the apex court has revealed that of the 60 lakh kg of narcotics and drugs confiscated across the country over the last 10 years, only 16 lakh kg was destroyed and the remaining 44 lakh kg went missing.
Expressing serious concern over the massive amount of narcotics that went missing from police custody, the court on Wednesday asked the Centre to bring out proper guidelines to ensure its safe storage and ways of destruction. “Why don’t you (Centre) provide a proper place in each district for keeping the contraband. The places should be properly guarded. Pilferage of such things is very serious,” said a bench of justices
T S Thakur and Kurian Joseph.
The bench asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to provide a flow chart through which the seized drugs should pass through and said it would then issue certain directions for proper storage and subsequent destruction of drugs and narcotics.
“We will do it after discussing it with the officers who are present here,” said the Solicitor General, seeking time till Thursday.
The data reveals that Rajasthan alone recorded 23 per cent of the total haul with 11.81 lakh kg seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, followed by Punjab (9.2 lakh kg), Madhya Pradesh (8.04 lakh kg) and Tamil Nadu (6.57 lakh kg).
The data, submitted by senior advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha — amicus curiae in the case — also shows that Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were among the states that were not able to destroy even five per cent of the drugs confiscated.
The apex court had earlier taken note of the issue while hearing an appeal by the Union government against the acquittal of some persons in the drugs case as the seizure of the contraband was not established by the prosecution.
Busted But Not Burned
60 lakh kg
Narcotics and drugs confiscated across the country over the last 10 years
31% Of confiscated drugs destroyed (16 lakh kg)
0 States like Odisha, Bihar, Goa and Manipur have not destroyed any contraband seized over the last decade
Below 5%
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat were among states that destroyed less than five per cent of drugs confiscated