The High Court of Meghalaya has sought surprise checks on vehicles of the Army and paramilitary Assam Rifles for possible transit of drugs.
Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) plea on Wednesday, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W. Diengdoh said “teams of flying Army checkers” should be deployed along the drug transit routes to make surprise checks on Army vehicles that “are otherwise not subjected to checks” by the local authorities.
The PIL plea was filed by Meghalaya-based activist M. Kharkongor.
The amicus curiae in the case referred to the recent implication of an Army Major in Manipur for facilitating the transit of drugs. He said a modus operandi was being followed since Meghalaya falls within the transit route of drugs sourced from or going to a neighbouring country.
“If what is reported is true, there must also be intelligence reports received by the State in such regard and the Chief Secretary should coordinate with, inter alia, the Army and Assam Rifles, to make the highest officials aware of the problem and for immediate action being taken,” the court said.
It directed the General-Officer Commanding of the 101 Area (Shillong) and the Director-General Assam Rifles to “verify the position and take immediate remedial action” if drugs were sometimes transported in Army trucks.
The court observed that the amicus curiae’s work involved visiting correctional homes and opioid substitution therapy centres and discovering from some inmates that high-ranking defence personnel may have been roped in for the safe passage of the drugs.
“Unbelievable though such allegation is, it has to be noticed nonetheless that according to the relevant inmates, drugs are sometimes transported in Army trucks, which are generally immune from checks,” the court said.
