India News | HC Seeks Centre's Response on Plea Against One-year Detention of Drug Offender

New Delhi, Jul 23 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Friday sought response from of the Centre on a petition challenging the one-year preventive detention of an alleged habitual offender under the anti-drug law.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani was hearing the petition filed by Sharafat Sheikh who has challenged his dentention under Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PITNDPS Act) allegedly for habitually engaging himself in prejudicial activities related to narcotics and psychotropic substances.

The bench granted three weeks' time to Centre to file its response and listed the matter for hearing in August.

The petition said that in April, a one-year detention order was passed against Sheikh by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance under PITNDPS Act which was subsequently confirmed on June 15.

Sheikh's petition filed through advocate Lalit Valecha has contended that there was no need to detain him under PITNDPS Act when he was already in custody in another case and there was no likelihood of his release in near future.

It is alleged that there are no cogent reasons for detention disclosed in the order, thus violating Article 22(5) of the Constitution and also perpetuating the years of harassment and unjust action meted out by Delhi Police.

“Since the detenue (Sheikh) has been charges under section 29 NDPS Act, 1983 in respect of 3 kg of heroin i.e. commercial quantity of heroin and as a corollary, the stringent bail restrictions envisaged in section 37 NDPS Act becomes applicable in the present case with no possibility of imminent release of the detenue, which was well within the knowledge of the detaining authority”, the petition said.

The petition further argues that Sheikh's propensity to engage in illicit traffic in narcotics was predominately judged on the basis of a case in which he has already been acquitted.

Claiming that preventive detention has to be exercised in exceptional circumstances, the petition also submittted that the detaining authority also did not consider his representation against his detention independently of the opinion of the advisory board.

“Even though the power to detain a person is vested with concerned authority but unless the same in implemented in a justifiable manner, such action of the detaining authority cannot be sustained inasmuch it violates the provision of Article 21”, the petition said.

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