Narco-terrorism is the latest amalgamation of organized crime. Reportedly, drones are being utilized to ferry and airdrop narcotics and weapons besides cash to keep terrorism alive. The prime targets are the territories of Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir due to their proximity to the international borders. Weaponry passes into the hands of terrorists and the illegal proceeds of the drug trade are shared by drug handlers and traffickers. Narco-terrorist modules operate at international levels. Aided by advancement of technology, use of satellite phones and sophisticated drones, invisible organized crime has escalated to unknown heights without detection. The aftermath of narco-terrorism is indefatigable, colossal & irreversible damage to society. Solutions in law are scarce, their implementation difficult and detection almost impossible.
After 35 years of enactment, Punjab has finally removed the ventilator from The Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 (PITNDPS). Enacted by Parliament in 1988, after ushering it by an Ordinance, sadly, the meaningful law remained a dead letter in Punjab. However, Gujarat, Karnataka & Kerala took advantage of preventive detention provisions under PITNDPS to resolve drug trafficking. Punjab must emulate the formula in practice. Sooner the better.
Benjamin Franklin expressed “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” PITNDPS is a law to provide for detention in certain cases for purposes of preventing illicit traffic in narcotic drugs & psychotropic substances (NDPS). Remedies come in action before occurrence of crimes. Clandestine illicit & illegal movement of NDPS in Punjab is akin to immortal Greek mythology feared Hydra or dreaded Medusa horrors. Drug addiction destroys the user and decimates the family leaving living dead members. Widespread addiction has spread like grade 4 Cancer among denizens.
Community Medicine Department, PGIMER research reveals 3 million drug abusers in Punjab. Addicts turn into peddlers, juveniles become carriers and uniformed men abet distribution networks, multiplying drug users. Punjab’s special notorious “Chitta”, a synthetic drug made from heroin flows unabashedly in Punjab’s veins and arteries. A porous open-ended Indo-Pak border in Punjab facilitates drug routes from Afghanistan with institutionalized corruption channels under patronage of high & mighty. Stimulating Punjabi songs, intoxicating a new high, lending glamour, glorifying drugs. Disaster is unmitigated, deaths are unending. Nobody cares anymore.
PITNDSPA empowers Governments to take persons in custody to prevent engagement in illicit smuggling of NDPS. The Government can pass orders detaining persons suspected in this illicit traffic upon conditions requiring discipline and punishment for breaches. Orders of detention cannot be declared invalid or inoperative even if severable grounds are vague, non-existent, not relevant or not approximately connected or invalid for any reason whatsoever. Detention orders cannot be invalid or inoperative even if the person to be detained is outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Government. Absconding persons can be declared proclaimed offenders under the Criminal Procedure Code. Such detention Orders by Government are tested by Advisory Boards in camera proceedings to ensure protections guaranteed under Article 22 of the Constitution to prevent unbridled powers in frey. However, PITNDPS mandates that a person against whom an order of detention has been made shall not be entitled to appear by any legal practitioner with reference to the advisory board and its proceedings. All proceedings shall be confidential.
Appointment of erudite and experienced former UP High Justice Shabihul Hasnain as Chairperson of Punjab PITNDSPA Board, has been an exercise in futility. The Punjab government did not mobilize his stellar role in curbing the flourishing narcotics trade. Punjab needed his intravenous indulgence , as his appointment could have roused into motion a prevention effectiveness machinery . Drug criminals under surveillance could have been apprehended and detained for sufficient reasons without drug recoveries. Arming police with effective investigative powers may have led to detention, may have cut into planning schemes of drug caucus mafias. Drug webs may have been nipped at mother sources with resourceful interrogation in preventive custody. Nexus of terrorism & drug cartels in Punjab hatching terror conspiracies fuelled by unethical richness of drug trade could have been thus combatted. Narco-terrorism could have been combated skilfully. Assistance from Interpol, National Narcotics Control Bureau and National Investigative Agency could have been sought due to the international dimensions of this deadly trade. However, the entire process has been an exercise in futility with the non-functional PITNDPS Board. It never took off.
PITNDPS in motion, would have been laudable. The opening batsman could have prepared the pitch and got the team ready. Justice Hasnain with his vast experience of constitutional law could have been an asset for Punjab. He did have a Herculean task to start the match with teams before him. His briefs & cases were never prepared by the Government of Punjab. Punjab has yet to mobilize preventive detention machinery. Policemen need devilling. Engaging Punjab police to actually record sufficient causes for detention to be adjudged by judicial wisdom of Justice Hasnain, will need introspection for senior police personnel. However, nothing happened. Age old ad hoc unrecorded practices of detention will need overhauls with change of mindsets. Educative and informative inculcation at the Judicial Academy will still help.
Constitutional protections enshrined in PITNDPS empowering preventive detention ranging from 3 to 6 months and upto 2 years must withstand judicial scrutiny of Justice Hasnain. He will need the Government’s assistance to make his work successful. Right to life & personal liberty cannot be turned in Nelson’s eye. To subvert attempts of wrongful and unjustified application of PITNDPS is essential to prevent misuse. It is here that judicial wisdom attributed to Justice Hasnain will be a harbinger for protection of human rights and right to personal liberty of accused persons. His appointment ought not to be wasted. The end must secure the means.
Punjab has taken the lead of being the only State to enact the Punjab Travel Professionals Regulations Act, previously called Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act, 2012. It mandates compulsory registration of Travel Agents conducting any activity whatsoever. However, this is only possible if the Emigration Act, 1983 is amended and “human smuggling,” i.e. illegal smuggling of human beings by their consent finds definition and is declared an offence all over India. Likewise, an amendment to constitute an advisory board in States must be done for preventive detention of human smugglers involved in the illegal trade of movement of persons. Illegal immigration too handled by international gangs has to be stamped out.
This second Punjab malaise of rampant human smuggling can also be remedied if the Government is empowered to detain merchants of death and an Advisory Board is statutorily available to oversee such detention of human smugglers. Punjab can take the lead. Lot of gullible human lives can be saved if the model of an advisory board is also constituted in respect of the ill effect of human smuggling. If powers of preventive detention are enacted under Emigration Act, 1983, investigative agencies can take in custody human smugglers to prevent heinous crimes of extortion, kidnapping, murder and slavery, occurring enroute of trafficked persons. If this happens and human smugglers are on the radar, they can be intercepted and detected. Precious lives can be saved, before falling prey to be smuggled abroad. Profiteering at the cost of human lives must be eradicated. Law enforcers must be in tandem with intelligence agencies abroad & National Investigative Agency to utilize technology to effectively prevent drug trafficking & human smuggling. Only then, the ends will justify the means.
*The authors, academic lawyers, are an alumni of SOAS, London, an IAFL Fellow. anilmalhotra1960@gmail.com , www.anilmalhotra.co.in
*IAFL Fellow, Managing Partner, Malhotra & Malhotra Associates,India..
Email: anilmalhotra1960@gmail.com, Website: https://www.anilmalhotra.co.in,
Blog: https://www.anilmalhotra.co.in/blog
**Advocate, Malhotra & Malhotra Associates, India. Currently, LL.M [London]&Felix Scholar, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, London. Email:ankitmalhotra97@gmail.com, Website :https://www.ankitmalhotra.co.in
