The Punjab and Haryana High Court has requested that the State of Punjab provide details on the protocol employed for disposing of contraband seized following its delivery via drones from across the border.

Further, the High Court has additionally instructed the Union of India (UOI) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to furnish an exhaustive report concerning individuals struggling with addiction in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh.

A little over a month after the Punjab and Haryana High Court's suo motu cognizance of a news report revealing that the Border Security Force (BSF) had furnished Punjab police with a list of 75 individuals suspected of engaging in drug trafficking,.

The Bench led by Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta, issued specific directives.

The Bench, recognizing the case as a public interest petition, noted that it had initiated suo motu cognizance based on a news report. The report highlighted the Border Security Force's (BSF) expressed worry about the preventive detention of smugglers as a measure to counter drug trafficking. The news report also outlined the specifics of seizures and the retrieval of narcotics, rifles, and pistols during the year 2023. According to the report, a total of 755 kilograms of narcotic substances, delivered into India via drones along the border, had been successfully recovered.

As the matter came up for resumed hearing, the Bench asked the state to file a “better” affidavit or a status report. It was asked to clarify “as to when the heroin has been handed over to the State of Punjab and how the State of Punjab is dealing with the case property to destroy the same”.

Expressing their perspective, the Bench emphasized the necessity for the process of heroin destruction to be overseen by a "judicial officer." Furthermore, the counsel representing the State of Haryana was instructed to submit the most recent status report pertaining to the matter.

The state was instructed to outline the actions being undertaken in response to the report submitted by the Border Security Force (BSF). Furthermore, the Bureau was tasked with detailing the measures that could be implemented to raise awareness about the menace among individuals who had not yet fallen prey to drug addiction.

The Bench asserted: “The counsel for the UOI/NCB will file a reply mentioning that how many people are drug addicts in the states of Haryana, Punjab and the Union Territory, Chandigarh.”