E-Paper
Drug case: HC opens sealed reports, asks Punjab to take necessary action
Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday, while hearing the matter pertaining to a multi-crore drug racket, opened four sealed reports submitted with it and directed the government to take necessary action.
Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday, while hearing the matter pertaining to a multi-crore drug racket, opened four sealed reports submitted with it and directed the government to take necessary action.
Different reports in sealed covers were submitted before the high court by STF (Special Task Force) in 2017-2018. The high court opened four reports and then directed the government to take necessary action. The court resealed the reports again. The detailed court order is awaited.
The court also took up an application filed by Lawyers for Human Rights International (LFHRI) seeking to open the report filed by the SIT (Special Investigation Team), regarding the role of police officials in the drug trade in Punjab.
The application said that sealed reports submitted by the SIT, headed by Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, are lying in a sealed cover. The application said that these contain the outcome of enquiry conducted by the SIT against the police officials, who are acting in connivance with the drug traffickers and it is pertinent to act upon these reports so that further action may be taken to break the nexus between law enforcement agency and drug traffickers.
It may be mentioned that based on one of the SIT reports, an FIR was registered in December 2021 against SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia under NDPS Act. The LFHRI application further pointed out that, however, no action has yet been taken on three other such reports submitted by the SIT against the police officials, who were allegedly acting in connivance with the drug traffickers. The matter would now come up for hearing on February 15.
