‘Drugs Are Being Ordered Over Dark Web, Payments Made In Crypto Currency’ : Amicus To Supreme Court

Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit and Justice Bela M. Trivedi sought Union’s response in a suo motu PIL taken on the basis of a letter petition sent to the then CJI NV Ramana regarding drug mafia in the country. In the last hearing, the court had appointed Advocate Shoeb Alam as amicus curiae and had issued notice to Senior Advocate Aishwarya Bhati, Additional Solicitor General of India.

At the outset, CJI Lalit asked ASG Senior Advocate Aishwarya Bhati and Advocate Shoeb Alam for ideas which could be passed in form of directions by the court to tackle the problem of drug mafia in the country.

ASG Bhati submitted–

“I have had a detailed discussion with the officers. This matter is now being investigated by the DRI on one hand and NIA also, for the Nagpur terror angle of this…I have also taken instructions on what is the mechanism that is available to stop the loopholes. On these two aspects, we will file affidavits. After that I’ll sit with my colleague (Shoeb Alam)“

On the other hand Advocate Alam submitted before the court a 900 paged compilation comprising of reports from the Nagpur Drug Control Bureau, CAG and the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime concerning drug in-flow in India. He stated–

“This is a matter of demand and supply. So there is a demand and there is a sizeable population addicted to it…About 30,000 crores worth of drugs have been seized in the last one year, 13 months. This is only the tip of the iceberg. The issue is massive. Post covid, there is a huge turn in the manner in which drugs are coming into India. Youth are also involved in using drugs…There is a dark web on internet. Drugs are being ordered over the dark web, payments are being made in alternate crypto currency and deliveries are being made by couriers. There has been a three-time increase in recovery from courier or postal services…The nature of drugs which are being recovered is different. There are new drugs. Steps are to be taken on multifarious grounds. According to the CAG report, 70% drugs enter through coastal maritimes. The patrolling report is disenchanting.”

Noting the enormity of the problem as per the documents submitted by Advocate Alam, the bench granted three weeks time to the union to file a response. CJI Lalit stated–

“Ms. Bhati has submitted that she is in the process of taking instructions from various departments. She submits that departments are working in direction of revising mechanism which would take care of similar situations in future. She prays for appropriate time to respond. We grant three weeks time to file response. We also request Ms. Bhati and Mr. Alam to have a common meeting to come out with parameters which can be basis for directions. List after 5 weeks.“

CASE TITLE: In Re the menace of drug mafia network operating in the country WP(Crl) No. 496/2021