Punjab & Haryana High Court on Thursday came down heavily on DGP Punjab Gaurav Yadav over the repeated non-appearance of cops witnesses in drug cases. The High Court on Wednesday issued a summon to Punjab Home Secretary Gurkirat Kirpal Singh and Director General of police (DGP) Garuav Yadav. Therefore, DGP Punjab appeared on Thursday before the court after the court fumed over the delay in in trial of drugs cases due to the non-appearance of police officials.
As per reports, Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul came down heavily on the Punjab Police chief saying that the non-appearance of cops witnesses reflects poorly on the state. Asking DGP Punjab who will take responsibility for Drug Mafis, the court pointed out that the accused are getting bail easily due to the non-appearance of the witnesses.
Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul further pointed out the fact that Punjab being a border state and drug mafias getting bail makes it a sensitive issue. Pointing that drugs menace in Punjab is a result of cross-border narco-terrorism, the High Court went on to say, "you have betrayed the trust of the country."
Reportedly, DGP Punjab informed the court that there is a huge burden of drugs cases on the state and the Police are taking proactive steps. "We have recovered thousands of kgs contraband in the State and out of 1,700 kgs of contraband recovered in the country, 1,400 kgs is recovered in Punjab," informed DGP Punjab Gaurav Yadav to the High Court.
Below is what Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul said-
Responding to DGP Punjab's response, the judge said, "that's what you are supposed to do and you are obligated to do that...I applaud it but who is to be blamed when the drug mafias and drug addicts are getting bails because of non-appearance of your official?"
"This has more or less become a regular feature in the State of Punjab that prosecution witnesses, who are mostly official witnesses in cases registered under the NDPS Act, have not been appearing during trial to get their evidence recorded as a result of which the trials are naturally getting delayed," observed Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul.
Finally, the High Court directed the state government to file an affidavit explaining what measures they will take to address this issue.