Court fumes over sale of prescription drugs to students

A division bench comprising Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice P Velmurugan issued the direction on a habeas corpus petition which challenged the detention of a person under Goondas Act for administering drugs obtained from a medical shop intravenously to many including students by dissolving it in water.

Refusing to quash his detention under Goondas Act, the bench led by Justice Kirubakaran was livid that students were being sold such drugs, meant for use as painkillers, by medical shops without any prescription. The judge then posed a series of questions seeking details including the number of cases registered against medical shops for selling such drugs over the counter without prescription and whether the licences of such shops have been cancelled. The bench also sought statistics about the number of such students who are addicted to such drugs. It may be noted that in a similar such case involving detention of drug peddlers under Goondas Act, Justice Kirubakaran had sought the Centre and State government to submit a report on whether India was used as a hub to smuggle drugs by foreign and local mafias. The bench had then directed the Narcotics Control Bureau, Chennai Zone, and the Tamil Nadu police chief, to answer questions, including the cases registered under Narcotics Act in the past 10 years in the country and the State, and the quantity seized.

He had also observed that it was known that Punjab is the transit point on drug route and the State has become a major consumer base where youngsters and students were mostly addicted to the narcotics. The same situation should not be allowed to spread to other states, he had added.