‘Be serious about it’: SC pulls up Punjab over drug menace
The apex court also gave the Punjab government a week’s time to come up with additional measures to curb illicit liquor trade in the state
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said that the problem of drug trafficking on the rise among youth in Punjab is quite a serious matter as it is easy for anybody to destroy the country by finishing the youth.
Dealing with the problem of manufacture and transportation spurious liquor cases in Punjab that saw nearly 34,000 criminal cases under the Excise Act being registered between 2019 and May 2021, a bench of justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar told the state to spell out an action plan within a week and directed attention on an associated problem of drug peddling among youth in the state.
“The problem of drugs is increasing in Punjab. One has to be serious as youth will be finished. It is very unfortunate that this is happening in the state,” the bench observed. Senior advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha appearing for Punjab government told the court that this was due to the close proximity of the state to the Indo-pakistan border from where drugs are easily supplied.
The bench warned the state of a larger design. It said, “Your government has to take extra caution. If somebody wants to finish the country, more particularly being a border state, it is easy to finish the youth to finish the country by giving drugs. Be serious about it.”
However, the bench questioned the state’s seriousness to curb illicit or spurious liquor being manufactured in the state.
“Are you waiting for a hooch tragedy to take place,” the bench said as it was informed that till November 30, the state was pursuing 31,811 FIRS related to manufacture and transportation of illicit liquor and in only three cases, charge sheet was filed.
“Is it not shocking that in 2 years, you have over 30,000 FIRS. Is it not a failure on part of the state to curb illicit liquor being sold. The sufferer is the poor man who cannot afford to buy good liquor. The illegal transportation and manufacture of spurious liquor should stop,” the bench said while posting the matter to December 12.
Giving a week’s time for the state to devise additional measures to curb this trade, the bench said, “The state may come out with a circular to have more effective investigation and inquiry such that if any illegal still (bhatti) is found, the concerned local police will be held responsible for not keeping vigil.”
The state government filed an affidavit through advocate Ajay Pal explaining the steps being taken by the state by closing down 1,357 stills or spurious liquor units.
The state pointed out that a sum of Rs 10 crore has been collected towards penalty charged on liquor manufacturers. The
Court asked the state to spell out an action plan for using the amount towards creating awareness against spurious liquor or to increase manpower within the state’s borders for increased vigil against such trade.
The Court was considering a petition filed by two public spirited persons from Punjab demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the illicit liquor trade in the state. The petition also sought compensation for those who died after consuming illicit liquor.
The bench did not entertain this plea as it said, “By issuing a direction to the state to pay compensation we will be putting a premium on those consuming illicit liquor. Why should the taxpayers’ money be used for this. Who told you to consume such liquor.”
The Court said it will decide on this aspect on the next date as this is a policy decision that is best left for the state administration to consider.
The petitioners pointed out that in June 2020 the then Congress Member of Parliament Shamsher Singh Dullo wrote a letter to the then Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh highlighting the role of politicians and police officials who are behind the illicit liquor racket and demanding CBI probe.
In a response filed by Punjab in August 2021 in the present matter, the state government claimed that in the years 2019-21, a total of 34,767 criminal cases were registered for violation of the Punjab Excise Act.