Ranjan Gogoi, C.J. - (1.) THIS writ petition has been filed seeking directions for initiation of prosecution against the Respondent No. 6 under Section 59 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') and Sections 166 and 221 of the Indian Penal Code. In addition, a writ directing the Chandigarh Administration to develop a system for immediate registration of complaints relating to cognizable offences, has also been prayed for. A further writ or direction to have the matter involved in the present writ petition investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation, has also been prayed for.
(2.) THE writ petition arises out of an incident that occurred in the High Court premises on 21.01.2008. According to the writ Petitioner, some pouches containing a product styled as 'SRI BHOLLA MOONAKA' were recovered from a tobacco vendor by the office bearers of Burning Brain Society of which the writ Petitioner is the President. Suspecting the same to be a narcotic drug, the Petitioner immediately took it to the Narcotics Control Bureau for analysis and the report by the said Bureau was obtained which is to the effect that the sample analysed contained Charas (Hashish). According to the Petitioner, thereafter a complaint was lodged on 22.01.2008 before the Station House Officer, Police Station Sector -3, Chandigarh. It is the case of the Petitioner that on receipt of the report of the Narcotics Control Bureau a mention of the incident was also made to the Chief Justice of this Court who had directed the Registrar General of this Court to take necessary follow up action in the matter. According to the Petitioner, the Registrar General of this Court had instructed him to meet the Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh. However, though an interview was sought with the Senior Superintendent of Police the same was not granted. Further more, according to the Petitioner, as no FIR had been registered in respect of the incident, the Public Interest Litigation in question was filed on 25.01.2008 seeking the aforesaid reliefs. The Chandigarh Administration has contested the proceedings. According to the said Respondent, the complaint dated 22.01.2008 stated to be lodged before the S.H.O. Police Station, Sector -3, Chandigarh was, infact, not so lodged, though some members of the NGO had come to the Police Station in the evening of 21.01.2008 along with an official of the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh who was a part of the team that had collected the sample from the vendor on the day in question i.e. 21.01.2008. According to the Chandigarh Administration, a DDR in respect of the incident was lodged on 21.01.2008 and samples obtained from the official of the Corporation were sent for analysis to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory. The report thereof dated 26.02.2008 was received on 25.03.2008. The said report indicated the presence of Cannabis in the samples and accordingly an FIR No. 59 dated 25.3.2008 under Sections 2(iii)(iv) and 20 of the NDPS Act, 1985 was registered on the same date. According to the Chandigarh Administration, challan has been submitted in the said case against the vendor and the trial is presently being conducted by the competent Court in Chandigarh.
(3.) THE materials on record having revealed that the offending item "SRI BHOLLA MOONAKA' was manufactured by one M/s Sarswat Pharmaceuticals 197, Meeraganj, Allahabad (U.P.), the Court desired to know whether any investigation was done with regard to the licence granted to the said manufacturer for manufacture of Ayurvedic/Siddha or Unani as the product was so marketed. The Court also desired to know whether any investigation was conducted to rule out the possibility of substitution of the originally manufactured products by the vendor. This was by our previous order dated 31.01.2011.;