Face-off between Centre & Maha seems imminent

Face-off between the Centre and the State government looks imminent after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has asked the Maharashtra police’s Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) to transfer 'top five cases’ to the central anti-drug agency. Minority Affair Minister Nawab Malik, who has been making an expose on the Mumbai NCB after the cruise drug bust case involving Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, claimed that it was the Centre’s attempt to encroach on the state jurisdiction. He also questioned the Centre’s intentions.

The NCB’s letter to the ANC attributed the decision to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Malik claimed in a video shared on social media. He also shared the text of the purported letter.

NCB director general SN Pradhan wrote to Maharashtra DGP on November 24 asking for a list of five cases fit to be handed over to the NCB, said Malik. "What is the criteria for top-5 cases? 2 grams, 4 grams, 3 tons or more (seizure of drugs)?’’ he asked.

The letter sought that state governments prepare lists of cases having "inter-state and international" ramifications and consider handing them over to the NCB to help it unearth entire networks. "We want to know the criteria for selecting the top five cases. Are they the ones which garnered a lot of publicity?" Malik asked.

Why are the rights of the states being infringed upon in this manner despite there being no provision in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for such a takeover, he asked.

‘’The state government takes action through its Anti Narcotics Unit which has done a great job and detected many more cases than the Mumbai NCB zonal office. If it (Mumbai NCB zonal office) is not working then close it down,’’ he said.

"Is there an ulterior motive? NCB must answer the citizens of India," Malik said.

"Are attempts being made to curtail powers of the state government by transferring cases? Or NCB, which was engaged in the ransom and payoff, wanted to do more through transfer of five cases to it?’’ he questioned.

"We are doing our job, you do your job. If your organisation is really working, when will those 26 fake drug seizure cases be investigated?’’ he asked.

Nawab Malik questions the Centre’s intentions & asks what is the criteria for selecting top five cases