Punjab govt’s proposed death penalty to drug offenders stirs up hornets’ nest in SAD

Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to approve “death penalty to drug-related-offenders on first conviction only.”

Twitter/@capt_amarinder
Twitter/@capt_amarinder
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Dhairya Maheshwari

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has expressed strong reservations over Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s proposal to award death penalty to first-time drug-related offenders, stating that capital punishment would not be able to combat drug menace in the state.

“While we are for every stringent measure to curb drug menace, we won’t be able to fight it by introducing death penalty,” Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, former Punjab minister and close aide of former CM Parkash Singh Badal, told National Herald.

Captain Amarinder Singh, soon after being sworn-in as Punjab CM, constituted a Special Task Force (STF) to crack down on the thriving drug trade in the northern state. The Congress CM on Wednesday wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to approve “death penalty to drug-related-offenders on first conviction only.”

According to sources in Punjab Congress, Singh noted in his letter that the “intensive action plan” of the Congress government had resulted in arrest of over 18,000 drug peddlers and rehabilitation of nearly two lakh former drug users.

Terming Congress CM’s proposal as “panic reaction,” Grewal remarked, “By introducing the death penalty, the government just wants to wash its hands off from the real problem. It is not the answer to the problem.”

He said that there already were provisions in The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, to award capital punishment to drug offenders.

“Making provision for death penalty for first-time offenders would require an amendment to the NDPS Act, which would be a long process,” explained Grewal. He further noted that there was a huge backlog of cases filed under the act that were waiting to be heard.

On Monday, another SAD leader and MLA Pawan Tinu had expressed concern over the death penalty proposal, terming it as a face-saving bid of the government. He was quoted as saying that capital punishment to drug peddlers might be “misused.”

Several of SAD politicians have been accused of being involved in drug trade in the state during the tenure of the previous government. In March, local bodies minister Navjot Sidhu had alleged that the STF had evidence against SAD leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia.

“The crackdown on drug trade has been accelerated since Captain Amarinder Singh constituted the STF. Many smugglers have been caught and put behind bars. Many have fled the state,” Punjab’s health minister Brahm Mohindra told NH

Congress government has broken the backbone of drug trade

Dismissing the charges of SAD, Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra told National Herald that the STF had “broken the backbone” of drug trade in Punjab by disrupting the supply chain that had taken strong hold under the previous regime. “It is all the result of strong political will shown by the Congress government in constituting the STF that disrupted the supply chain,” said Mohindra.

“The crackdown on drug trade has been accelerated since Captain Amarinder Singh constituted the STF. Many smugglers have been caught and put behind bars. Many have fled the state,” he added.

Mohindra noted that the disruption in supply chain had resulted in increasing number of drug addicts turning to government-backed drug deaddiction centres for treatment.

“Besides government drug deaddiction centres, we also have 96 private centres across the state. On top, there are 82 rehabilitation centres. In each of Punjab’s 22 districts, we have local hospitals having a doctor and a psychiatrist to rehabilitate drug abuse victims. Addicts are put on alternative medicine at these centres and taken off the course once they start to recuperate,” explained Mohindra.

The Congress minister further noted that the government had directly involved the civil society in rehabilitating the addicts back into the society once they are alright.

“Our strategy to combat drug menace also includes educational initiatives and skill programmes for the addicts to rehabilitate them into the society,” he said.

“Once they’re out of drug deaddiction centres, they are sent to skilling centres, from where they could venture into the job market,” said Mohindra, adding that the initiative was being rolled out in the state.

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Published: 04 Jul 2018, 9:20 PM