How drugs reach students despite numerous enforcement agencies? asks Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice

Madras High Court ACJ questions drug availability among students, directs police to crack down on dealers by September 19.

Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) D. Krishnakumar on Monday wondered how narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances continue to land in the hands of school and college students despite the existence of multiple agencies to curb the drug menace.

Presiding over the first Division Bench along with Justice P.B. Balaji, the ACJ wanted to know whether the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau-Crime Investigation Department (NIB-CID) of the State police and other connected wings had enough personnel or not. The Bench directed Additional Advocate General (AAG) J. Ravindran to hold discussions with top officials of the Police Department and come up with a clear action plan on cracking down on the drug dealers in the State in order to secure the future of the students.

The AAG was asked to present the action plan before the court by September 19. The ACJ expressed serious concern over reports of free availability of ganja and other narcotic drugs across the State, with school and college students being the major consumer base.

He said the police could certainly not feign ignorance about such a serious issue or deny the availability of narcotic drugs across the State. Impressing upon the need to take concrete steps towards making Tamil Nadu a narcotics-free State, he wanted the police to come up with a plan.

The directions were issued during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition related to the residents of the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) tenements at Perumbakkam, Navalur, and All India Radio (AIR) Nagar, on the outskirts of Chennai, suffering from the drug menace.

The ACJ told the AAG that the drug menace was ubiquitous across the State and, therefore, the police must give top priority to address the issue since it involved the future of the children. He also warned that the court would have to reach out to other agencies if the State police fails to act decisively.