Today, On 3d July, The Supreme Court refused to cancel the Rs.1 lakh fine imposed on the Narcotics Control Bureau by the Calcutta High Court but reduced the penalty amount to Rs.50,000, offering partial relief to the agency.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a directive requiring the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to pay a cost of Rs 1 lakh in a particular case, but reduced the amount to Rs 50,000.
A bench comprising Justices M. M. Sundresh and K. Vinod Chandran issued the ruling in response to a petition from the Centre challenging a June 16, 2024 order from the Calcutta High Court.
The high court had imposed the cost on the NCB due to delays in appealing an acquittal in a case.
The amount is to be paid to the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority in Kolkata within a week.
The NCB has been instructed to recover this cost from the personnel involved in the process of drafting and filing the government appeal.
However, the Supreme Court stipulated that the cost should be deposited by the government rather than the individual officers.
The bench remarked to the Centre’s counsel,
“One thing is clear. There must be either the fault of your lawyer or your officer. It has to be either one of them,”
The court further added,
“We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgement. However, the compliance is to be made not by the officer in view of the specific statement made by the Additional Solicitor General (Centre’s counsel) but by the petitioner.”
The law officer highlighted that delays in filing appeals were concerning in several cases, and he believed some observations from the Supreme Court could be beneficial.
The bench commented,
“Please understand your position as a lawyer. If they don’t come to you, you should know what to do. You don’t ask the Supreme Court to issue directions to validate your orders,”
The NCB’s appeal was related to an acquittal decision from a special NDPS court in Barasat. The high court noted that the NCB was required to apply for leave to appeal under Section 378(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which it failed to do.
Instead, the NCB filed a government appeal without securing the necessary leave, as specified under Section 378(3) and corresponding to Section 419(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
The high court pointed out this oversight to the NCB counsel on May 19 and again in June, indicating that appropriate leave had not been obtained for filing a government appeal. On June 16, the NCB’s counsel sought to withdraw the appeal and related applications.
The high court concluded that, given the NCB’s conduct, granting an unconditional leave to withdraw would not serve justice, leading to the imposition of a Rs 1 lakh cost on the bureau.