SC judge urges stricter safeguards against false implication in drug cases

ISLAMABAD: A Supreme Court judge has called for tighter legal safeguards in narcotics prosecutions, warning that innocent people can be falsely drawn into such cases, including opposition politicians and individuals at odds with police officials or influential persons.

In a 14-page dissenting note issued in a set of petitions, Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan said the risk of wrongful implication in cases under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, should be removed or at least reduced through a strict reading of the law and the rules framed under it.

The matter before the court involved the common question of whether a forensic expert’s report is admissible under Section 36 of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act and Rule 6 of the relevant rules. The dissenting note also pressed for changes in the rules so they are brought in line with the parent law.

Justice Khan further held that simply listing the tests conducted does not by itself amount to full compliance with the legal requirements governing such reports. The dissenting note, as reported, also regretted what it described as the practice of falsely implicating people in narcotics cases and stressed stricter observance of the statutory framework in these prosecutions.