Hyderabad drugs racket: Confession enough for case

Hyderabad: Confession of accused drug peddlers plays a vital role in proving the cases booked under the NDPS Act, claim legal experts.

A notice under Section 67 of the NDPS Act and the confession made by the accused in a drug peddling case are different in court as compared with the notice and confession statement under the provisions of the CrPC.

Mr A. Santosh Kumar, a High Court advocate, said there was every possibility of the confession of the accused being admitted in court under the NDPS Act as the confession under the Act cannot be ignored.

In a majority of the narcotic cases, he said the courts take cognizance of the statement of the accused in rejecting the bail after the arrest and punishing the co-accused after the trial.

However, legal experts said non-bailable provisions under the NDPS Act could be invoked only when enforcement authorities find drugs in exclusive conscious possession of the accused. 

Another important point is that the quantity of seized drugs is beyond the permissible limit under Section 38 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Mr Pappu Nageswara Rao, a criminal lawyer, explained that under the NDPS Act the conscious possession is an essential requirement under the Act, otherwise the case will not be proved before the court of law.

“A mere consumption cannot be a valid ground for invoking the non-bailable provisions. However, when the consumers are found be associated with drug peddling, they will come under non-bailable provisions,” he explained.

He said if the person is found with a quantity of 100 grams of charas or 2 grams of cocaine or 5 grams of heroin or 2 milligrams of LSD they have to face punishment from 6 months to 1 year along with fine. But if the person is found with commercial quantity of banned drugs, he has to face 10 years rigorous imprisonment along with a hefty fine. In some exceptional cases, the accused have to face life imprisonment.

With regard to the ongoing cases in the city, he said when a peddler is caught with a banned drug in his possession, it is the duty of the enforcement agency to find out the origin and destination of the drug.

If these stars are found to be part of peddling, they will face serious charges. If they are found to be consumers only, they can be face charges of consuming prohibited drugs, which entail six months of imprisonment.