Madras High Court Raised Questions To The Government Regarding The Ganja Seized In Past Years

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court raised questions to the State government, seeking relevant information on the number of incidents registered regarding the quantity of ganja seized, destroyed, and preserved in the State over the past few years. It is purposefully putting the allegations made against the police of mismanaging the seized amount of ganja to foist cases.

Justice B Pugalendhi inquired about the cases filed in the last ten years for possession of more than 20 kg of ganja in the state, and if such records are kept.

According to a report presented to the Supreme Court by the State government in 2016, roughly 6.5 lakh kg of ganja was collected during a ten-year period, of which only 19,366.98 kg was damaged and the remaining was available to the police as of 2016. Though some of it is alleged to have been destroyed in 2019, the judge pointed out that the quantities destroyed and currently available are not known.

Even though the counsel for the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau CID (NIB-CID) claimed that they were inadequate to damage seized contraband due to a delay in gaining approval from lower courts, the court's registry was given additional instructions to collect information from special courts about the number of such applications are currently awaiting before them.

The special courts were also instructed to provide year-by-year data of outstanding narcotics cases, as well as a report on whether the acquired contraband maintained by the courts is in good condition.

Governments should give tax exemptions sparingly, according to the Madras High Court, and such exemptions should not assist huge profit-making corporations.

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, taking into consideration the various problems faced by police officers, ordered the reconfiguration of the Police Commission in the State to address their grievances, and stated that the commission should be headed by a retired HC judge rather than an IAS officer.

On a PIL filed by former head constable A Masilamani of Karur last year, a Division Bench comprising Justices N Kirubakaran (now retired) and B Pugalendhi issued the judgement.

The Bench found that police officers were suffering from psychological and emotional issues, which led to not just police misconduct but also suicide and desertion. The bench noticed that approximately 16% of police positions are unfilled, with 15,819 vacancies ranging from police constables to Special Sub Inspectors.