STF report on drug cases should be made public, says Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu

As per the law, the Punjab government had the powers to proceed on the basis of the report on drug trade, says state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu

Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday said the report of the special task force (STF) on drugs should be made public and a time-bound investigation be started to catch the “big fish” involved in the drug trade.

Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu.

In a series of tweets, he said that as per the law, the government had the powers to proceed on the basis of the report. “It should be immediately made public, an FIR should be registered on its basis and a time bound investigation should be initiated to catch the big fishes responsible for narco-terrorism (sic),” he posted.

Sidhu’s demand for making the 2018 STF report public has not found favour with chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi who insists that opening it is the prerogative of the high court. “How can we open a court document? It is not a government document,” Channi told Hindustan Times in an interview last Sunday.

Sharing reports of the National Crime Records Bureau, the PPCC chief tweeted that it was promised to the people of Punjab in 2017 that the backbone of drugs would be broken in four weeks, but the state continuously retained the top position in drug case rate. “We have been accused of carrying forward the inglorious legacy of Akalis by waging a sham war on drugs,” he said in another post.