Section 32A of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, is a reasonable classification based on the nature of drug-related offenses and the need to deter such offenses. The provision does not violate Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

SINGHAL, J.

( 1 ) BY this writ petition the provisions of Section 32a, of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 have been challenged.

( 2 ) THE petitioner is the wife of Satya Narain who was convicted under Section 22 of the Act for 10 years Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of Rs. one lac for the offence under NDPS Act. The appeal against the conviction has also been dismissed. Satya Narain was undergoing the sentence in Central Jail Sabarmati, Ahmedabad and thereafter he was transferred to Central Jail, Bikaner. He was kept in open air camp till 1996 and thereafter was sent back to Central Jail, Jodhpur. The grievance is that the provisions of Section 32a of the Act prohibits remission of sentence. It is ultra vires the provisions of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India as in respect of other offences under IPC. , where punishment is of 10 years or more, the provisions of remission are applicable. Restricting the provisions by not granted the bail during trial or not to apply the provisions for suspension remission or commutation of sentence is stated to be against the object of the Act.

( 3 ) RELIANCE has been placed on the decision in the case of Ram Charan v. Union of India, Writ Petitions Nos. 1304/90 and 1391/90 decided on 5-3-1991 wherein the provisions of Section 32-A of the Act were declared ultra vires resulting in in-effective right of appeal of the accused. It is also stated that withdrawing the facility of open air jail is violative of the principles of natural justice.

( 4 ) ARGUMENTS of both the learned counsel have been heard.

( 5 ) THE statement of object and reasons of the Act of 1985 are as under :-The statutory control over narcotic drugs is exercised in India through a number of Central and State enactments. The principal Central Acts, namely the Opium Act, 1857, the Opium Act, 1878 and the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930 were enacted a long time ago. With the passage of time and the developments in the field of illicit drug traffic and drug abuse at national and international level, may deficiencies in the existing laws have come to notice, some of which are indicated below : (i) The scheme of penalties under the present Acts is not sufficiently deterrent to meet the challenge of well organised gangs of smugglers. The Dangerous Drugs Acts, 1930 provides for a maximum term of imprisonment of 3 years with or without fine and 4 years imprisonment with or without fine for repeated offences. Further, no minimum punishment is prescribed in the present laws, as a result of which drug traffickers have been sometimes let off by the Courts with nominal punishment. The country has for the last few years been increasingly facing the problem of transit traffic of drugs coming mainly from some of our neighbouring countries and destined mainly to western countries. (ii) The existing Central laws do not provide for investing the officers of a number of important central enforcement agencies like narcotics, customs, Central excise, etc. with the power of investigation of offences under the said laws. (iii) Since, the enactment of the aforesaid three Central Act a vast body of international law in the field of narcotics control has evolved through various international treaties and protocols. The Government of India has been a party to these treaties and conventions which entail several obligations which are covered or are only partly covered by the present Acts. (iv) During recent years new drugs of addiction which have come to be known as psychotropic substances have appeared on the scene and posed serious problems to national Government. There is no comprehensive law to enable exercise of control over psychotropic substance in India in the manner as envisaged in Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971 to which also India, has acceeded. 2. In view of what has been stated above, there is an urgent need for the enactment of a comprehensive legislation on narcotic drugs and psychotr