While considering a petition contesting a Jalandhar court's decision to summon Swapan Sharma, the Commissioner of Police in Ludhiana, as a defense witness in an NDPS case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday took a tough stance against the practice of calling senior police officers as defense witnesses without cause.
Judge Jasjeet Singh Bedi heard the case in Court No. 52. The Bench publicly chastised the petitioner's attorney and strongly disapproved of the Jalandhar court's order, calling the action a deliberate attempt to obstruct and postpone the trial.
Why is the Ludhiana Commissioner of Police required to appear in court? Just to provide you with a CCTV footage?
The Jalandhar trial court's decision to grant bailable warrants for the summons of senior police officers caught the Bench off guard.
The Court noted that honorable senior officers who were neither involved in the investigation nor named as witnesses cannot be called in order to attract attention or delay proceedings when the attorney was unable to provide a suitable response.
The High Court unequivocally noted that, particularly in time-bound NDPS proceedings, calling high-ranking officials in situations where they have no investigation role amounted to abuse of the legal system. It is also important to remember that, rather than insisting on physical appearance—a strategy the High Court implicitly disapproved of—the Jalandhar court should have taken into consideration the formal request made on behalf of CP Ludhiana to allow appearance through video conference.
The High Court granted relief to the CP Ludhiana and sent a strong message against baseless defense strategies meant to postpone justice by taking the case seriously and staying the Jalandhar court's summoning order.
The media's overreach after the summoning order, where speculative and ignorant reportage aimed to damage the reputation of top police officials, was another noteworthy comment made by the High Court.
The NDPS case stems from a well-coordinated anti-drug operation and not from a failed or routine investigation. In March 2024, Jalandhar Commissionerate Police busted an international drug smuggling cartel, culminating a two-month-long operation and the crackdown, exposed a multi-layered drug nexus operating across states and international borders. As per information, the network was involved in smuggling narcotics to the UK, USA, Australia, and Canada via courier channels. The operation has led to the arrest of nine accused, many caught from outside Punjab, seizure of 22 kg of opium, including 17 kg directly linked to the nine arrested accused and ultimately exposed a deeper nexus involving six Customs officials, including the arrest of four Customs employees from Delhi.
The culprits were captured, recoveries were impacted, and the entire supply chain was dismantled, according to the High Court. This makes it quite evident that calling top officers in such a matter does nothing more than postponing justice.
After carefully considering these factors, the High Court stayed the summons order from the Jalandhar court, providing the CP Ludhiana with instant relief and making it clear that the legal system cannot be abused to harass high-ranking officials or thwart successful anti-drug cases.