The GST police has no right to prosecute persons arrested under the Narcotics Act: SHC

The Sindh High Court ruled that the GST police has no power to prosecute and deal with persons arrested under Article 21 of the Narcotics Control Act unless they are transferred to the nearest police station along with the seized items.

A man appealed to life imprisonment after being arrested and prosecuted by a consumer tax police inspector. The judge of the High Court Chamber headed by Judge Nazar Akbar pointed out that anyone arrested and captured anyone while exercising the power granted According to the notice of the Ministry of Narcotics Control, the suspect and the property of the case, including the vehicle involved in the case, should be immediately transferred to the nearest police station.

The court held that anyone detains any person, seizes items and takes the suspect to any place, including the consumption tax police station or any other police station, under Article 20 or 21 of the Central Nervous System Act. According to the special law, the local police except. The police station or central nervous system police station near the crime scene shall constitute the crime of illegal detention of the person, and the arresting authority shall investigate the police station for the crime of illegal detention by the public security organ in accordance with the law.

It further pointed out that the tax authorities should ensure that the tax police’s illegal acts committed in prosecuting cases under the Criminal Procedure Law should be immediately stopped, and investigate and prosecute all unlawful acts registered by the tax authorities in exercising the powers and functions stipulated in Article 1. Resolve the case. Article 21, paragraph 1, of the Central Nervous System Act can be undertaken/transferred to the local police according to the location of the crime to deal with drug threats and their trafficking in strict accordance with the Central Nervous System Act.

The appellant, Akhtar Meen, was arrested in Nazmabad on September 4, 2019 by the excise and tax police Sheraz Gul Thebo for spying information. The excise police claimed to have seized 13 kilograms of charas from a rickshaw in Akhtar. The court of first instance sentenced the appellant to life imprisonment on October 26, 2019, based on the testimony of a consumption tax official and a witness.

After carefully reading the case records, the court found that everything in the case was completed by additional consumption tax officials, from receiving so-called spy information, forming a commando team, conducting searches and arresting suspects, and submitting to FIR as the complainant. Act as an investigator.

The court noted the notice from the Department of Narcotics Control that authorized the excise tax and police departments and other federal government-controlled agencies to investigate criminal acts under the CNS law. It said that the investigators did not interrogate the owner of the rickshaw, and initially found that he was guilty of tacit and conniving crime.

The court revoked the conviction of the court of first instance and pointed out that after the appellant was arrested, when performing the functions specified in Article 21(1) of the Central Nervous System Act, the actions taken by the tax officer against him were illegal and not legal. Authorization. .

The court also instructed the Director of Consumption Tax Administration to impose severe disciplinary sanctions on consumption tax officials who did not comply with the basic criminal law from registration of ab FIR to drug seizures and illegal forwarding of appellants. Due to being detained at the Consumption Tax Police Station, he failed to investigate the case under the CNS Law and prepare documents based on his own certification.

It stated that the tax authorities should ensure that the illegal acts committed by the tax police in prosecuting cases under the Criminal Procedure Law should be stopped immediately, and that all pending cases registered by the tax authorities using the powers and functions stipulated in Article 1 should be investigated and investigated. Prosecute. Article 21 Paragraph 1 of the Central Nervous System Act can be undertaken/transferred to the local police according to the location of the crime to deal with the threat of drugs and their trafficking in strict accordance with the Central Nervous System Act.

The court instructed the excise department to submit detailed information on the outstanding cases registered by the excise police under sections 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Criminal Procedure Law, and stated that the investigation of outstanding cases should be transferred to the local area in strict accordance with the provisions of section 9 police. Article 27 of the CNS Act is reviewed by the member inspection team.