Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik has said that addicts should be sent to rehab, not jail. Malik’s statement comes after comedian Bharti Singh and her husband Harsh Limbachiya were arrested in Mumbai over possession of cannabis.
“NCB is arresting people who consume drugs. They’re addicts who should be sent to rehab, not jail. NCB’s duty is to track down drug traffickers but no action being taken against them,” he said asking is the central agency protecting the traffickers by arresting drug addicts from the film industry.
‘NCB’s duty is to track down drug traffickers’
Acting on a tip-off, the NCB conducted a search at Singh’s office and residence in suburban Andheri on Saturday and seized 86.5 gm of marijuana or ganja during the search.
Both Singh and her husband are accused of consuming marijuana and a case has been registered against them under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The couple and two others arrested in the case will be produced before a court after their medical examination at Sion hospital. As per the officials, Singh’s name cropped up during the interrogation of a drug peddler.
‘Is NCB protecting them by arresting drug addicts from film industry’
However, the quantity allegedly seized from Singh’s possession is considered as small under the Act, as against “commercial quantity”, an NCB official told PTI. If anyone is caught with up to 1,000 gm of ganja it is considered small quantity, which attracts jail term up to six months and/or fine of Rs 10,000. Possession of commercial quantity – 20 kg or more – can lead to 20 years in jail.
In September after the NCB summoned actors Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shradha Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Simone Khambatta and celebrity manager Shruti Modi, Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut questioned the agency’s Bollywood drug probe asking, “in which field, there is no addiction?”
Reminding the Narcotics Control Bureau that its job is to prevent drug smuggling, Raut said they are calling one person after the other but not doing anything to prevent drug trafficking.
Source: Times Now
