Amid rising undertrial numbers, HC raps Punjab Police again for failure to depose in drug cases
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted that the repeated absence of police witnesses from testifying in drug and other criminal trials — despite coercive measures ordered by the court — reflects “not just a casual approach but blatant disregard for judicial authority.”
Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul also recorded its “strong disapproval of the dereliction shown by the prosecution witnesses” before directed the State Director-General of Police to “take appropriate measures to ensure that police officers summoned as prosecution witnesses in criminal trials appear without fail.”
The court’s assertion comes at a time when the prolonged detention of undertrial prisoners and the resulting overcrowding in Punjab jails remains a pressing concern, even as the State continues to grapple with the drug menace.
Summoned as prosecution witnesses in NDPS and other trials, the police officials are simply not showing up leading to prolonged incarceration of undertrials and trampling of constitutional rights. “What stares glaringly from the record is a clear pattern of neglect and indifference on the part of the prosecution witnesses, who, despite repeated judicial orders, have failed to honour summons and warrants. That such conduct emanates from police officials — entrusted with the task of upholding the rule of law — is deeply concerning and unacceptable. It reflects complacency, which cannot be condoned,” Justice Kaul asserted.
Justice Kaul added the menace of drug trafficking was indeed a grave threat, steadily corroding the social fabric and destroying countless lives. “But the seriousness of the offence cannot become a licence to trample upon constitutional safeguards. Detaining an accused indefinitely due to the sheer nonchalance of the prosecution amounts to an abuse of process”.
Granting bail to an accused in a drugs case registered in 2019 in Kapurthala district, the court held that the right to a speedy trial — guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution — applied with equal vigour even to cases under special statutes such as the NDPS Act.
The rebuke came just months after the High Court asked Punjab Director-General of Police to implement strict disciplinary action against police witnesses failing to attend court proceedings without cause. Then too, Justice Kaul had cautioned: “Justice delayed is justice denied, and the failure of police officials to discharge their duties as prosecution witnesses further erodes public confidence in the system.”
Justice Kaul’s observations point to a failure rooted not only in procedural lapses but in the system itself. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s “Prison Statistics India 2022”, Punjab had 4,398 undertrial prisoners confined for more than one year, 1,967 for over two, and 716 for over three years, with 119 languishing beyond five years. Many of these are drug-related cases where the police did not turn up to testify.
The consequences are not just legal, but moral. The Supreme Court in “Satender Kumar Antil versus the CBI noted that India’s jails are “flooded” with undertrial prisoners — more than two-thirds of the total prison population. The Bench observed that a culture of routine arrest and prolonged detention still reflects a “mindset, a vestige of colonial India,” despite arrest being a “draconian measure” that must be used sparingly.
Punjab