The Punjab and Haryana high court has quashed the detention order of alleged notorious drug trafficker Sandeep Singh alias Chatha, issued under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act, 1988, by the central government in November 2025.
According to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sandeep Singh, a resident of Rasulpur Rohi village in Amritsar district, is a known history-sheeter with deep roots in narcotics trafficking, who had seven criminal cases, including three drug-related cases, registered against him since 2013.
His activities first came under scrutiny in 2017-18, when he was arrested twice by the Tarn Taran and Amritsar police. Despite repeated arrests, he continued to expand his drug trafficking operations, including cross-border networks, making him a key figure in the illicit drug trade, officials had claimed.
The preventive detention proceedings were initiated in connection with a November 15, 2022, drugs case registered by the NCB.
The allegations were that one Sandeep Singh alias Deepu was detained at Mohali on November 15, 2022, and 20.326 kg of heroin was allegedly recovered from his possession. During the subsequent investigation, other accused, including Akshay Chhabra alias Babblu, Gaurav alias Gora/Ajay Kumar Grover and Chatha, were arrested.
Defending the detention order, the NCB had alleged that he was involved in an organised interstate and transnational narcotics network. The agency claimed that in all, approximately 39.936 kg of heroin, precursor chemicals and ammunition were recovered later, including two clandestine heroin-processing laboratories. He was arrested on December 9, 2022, and a chargesheet was filed in the special court at Ludhiana on May 12, 2023.
{{/usCountry}}Defending the detention order, the NCB had alleged that he was involved in an organised interstate and transnational narcotics network. The agency claimed that in all, approximately 39.936 kg of heroin, precursor chemicals and ammunition were recovered later, including two clandestine heroin-processing laboratories. He was arrested on December 9, 2022, and a chargesheet was filed in the special court at Ludhiana on May 12, 2023.
{{/usCountry}}The court found that the Supreme Court granted him bail on November 24, 2025, in the 2022 criminal case and that merely three days later, on November 27, 2025, the detaining authority passed the preventive detention order.
His lawyer, Sandeep Wadhawan, said that the detention order was not executed immediately and was ultimately executed on January 7, 2026, after a delay of 41 days. Thereafter, the Centre on March 24, 2026, confirmed the detention and directed that the petitioner remain detained for one year from January 7, 2026.
The court observed there was an unexplained delay of nearly three years in passing the detention order. The FIR was registered on November 15, 2022, whereas the detention order was passed on November 27, 2025.
The court held that the substantial delay, coupled with the absence of a satisfactory explanation demonstrating continuity of the alleged prejudicial activities, had “snapped the live and proximate link” between the past activities and the alleged necessity for preventive detention. It also found that the 41-day delay in the execution of the detention order that remained unexplained.
“...if the authorities apprehended that the petitioner was likely to indulge in prejudicial activities after his release, the ordinary remedy available to them was to place the relevant material before the competent court and seek cancellation of his bail,” the court said, while quashing the detention order.