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Mumbai cruise rave party: All you need to know about NDPS Act
Here’s more on the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act under which eight persons have been arrested so far and several detained in connection with the Mumbai rave party raid.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday busted a rave party being held on a cruise in Mumbai. Among prominent names, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan has been detained and is being questioned by the Narcotics Control Bureau.
Aryan Khan and at least seven others are being quizzed at the NCB's Ballard Estate office in south Mumbai. The party was being attended by several high-profile guests and the cruise was headed towards Goa. The NCB, during the raid which went on past midnight, found several drugs like cocaine, MDMA, Mephedrone and charas from those who were detained after the raid.
Here’s more on the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act under which eight persons have been arrested so far and several detained in connection with the raid.
What is the NDPS Act?
The NDPS Act was enacted in 1985 with an aim to comply with the guidelines of international conventions relating to drugs and their abuse. The act prohibits “the manufacture, production, trade, use, etc. of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances", except for medical and scientific purposes. Just a year after the enactment of the act, the Narcotics Control Bureau was set up under the Union home ministry.
The Act lists down stringent provisions on manufacturing, sale, purchase, possession, consumption, abuse and trafficking of drugs.
As prescribed under the NDPS Act, the punishment depends on the quantity of drugs seized.
Going by the Section 31A of the act, the maximum punishment that can be granted under this anti-drug law is death penalty. The stringent punishment under the act is applicable if a person is found guilty of being involved with commercial quantities of drugs.
On the other hand, the act empowers courts to grant immunity to an addict if they are found involved in a case dealing with trace amounts of the drug. But, this can be done on a condition that the accused agrees to take a medical treatment for de-addiction as mandated under Section 64A.
Bail can be granted in cases where someone has only consumed banned drugs or narcotics but has not been found to be involved in trading. However, for this, the accused will need to sign a bond.
The law, which came into effect in 1985, was amended thrice- in 1989, 2001 and 2014.
