The number of cases booked against ganja smugglers under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by the Department of Prohibition and Excise has been on the rise, but the rate of conviction has been mere 5 %. In 2014-15, the department booked 132 cases, arrested 272 persons and seized 18.4 tonnes of ganja and in 2015-16, the department arrested over 300 persons and the quantity of ganja seized exceeded 25 tonnes, but, in all, only about 35 persons were convicted under the NDPS Act and that too under petty sections.
The main reasons being that the investigating officers, both from the police and the Excise Department, are not fully aware of the various sections of the Act, and the cases booked by them lack the required comprehensiveness that can lead to stronger conviction. This was observed by G. Kalyani, public prosecutor of the Prohibition and Excise ((P&E), Department, here at a one-day workshop on the NDPS Act. The enforcement agencies were doing a good job in arresting the smugglers and seizing ganja, but certain key elements such as alerting the superior officer or involving a gazetted officer as witness to the arrests made are missing in the CD files. These lacunae weaken the case and allow the arrested persons to go scot free, she said.
Dr. Kalyani said the NDPS Act has stringent provisions such as life imprisonment or even capital punishment, but the case should be watertight.
Deputy Commissioner of P& E (Visakhapatnam) Ch. Gopalkrishna pointed out that awareness among investigating and field officers is improving and the conviction rate has gone up from 5% to 10 %. Assistant Commissioner, P&E, (Enforcement- Visakhapatnam) S.V.V.N. Babji Rao, said that ganja trade in the Agency spread pan-India and it had a well-oiled system that functions like a Mafia.
But the most worrying factor is that all enforcement agencies have not been able to breach the cartel and reach the main kingpins. The arrests and investigation are limited to the smuggler, conduit or the driver of the vehicle.
“They operate on ‘need-to-know’ basis, typical of any drug cartel and we are not able to go beyond one or two levels. But efforts are on to develop a coordinated inter-State approach,” said Mr. Babji Rao.
