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Parents must always be aware of who their kids’ friends are, where are they going, for what etc. Once we all are convinced that drugs are a menace from which our kids need to be protected, parents can go to any lengths. But how can parents keep a check on their wards and follow their social media interactions? A.
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So, taking this example I would urge everyone to be very clear in communication. It took the man nine years to prove that he was talking about milk and not RDX. In some case this diary got seized and the charge sheet mentioned that he was delivering RDX. He kept a diary in which names of clients to whom he had delivered were written. I know of a case wherein a milkman got entangled in an extremely serious matter. But youngsters nowadays communicate with emojis or short forms of words, which may not always be understood by people belonging to one generation up. Still, I would advise youngsters to be very clear in their communication on social media so that there is no vagueness and no scope for misinterpretation. Anyway, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court has already said that WhatsApp chats have no evidence value. Then it will be like living under British rule. For those who are innocent, why should they live in fear while communicating with friends on social media. Should they be more circumspect now lest it is misinterpreted? A. Youngsters now communicate mostly through social media. I do not believe that NDPS Act is draconian, but the way it is being implemented by the officers is draconian. The way the NDPS Act has been implemented, not interpreted, by the agency concerned is a bit alarming. This way the person being searched is also assured that nothing is being planted. You have the option of getting searched either by the cops there or a gazetted officer from their department or before a magistrate. Do understand your rights about being searched. Usually, we are known by the company we keep, but fine, let’s consider that at a party a few anti-social elements enter and soon the cops raid the place. Let’s take a hypothetical situation and talk about what an accused must do if he/she is being framed or if they are simply at the wrong place at the wrong time? A. In other cases, it is up to the government to prove that you actually possessed the recovered materials. However, the prosecuting agency has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that you possessed it. Now, if narcotics are recovered from you, then there is a presumption that you possessed it and it is up to the accused to prove otherwise. I possess an office and while I am away if someone leaves a bag there without my knowledge so I can’t be in conscious possession of that. But I must be fully aware that I possess the car, and that’s called conscious possession. It’s parked somewhere but yes, legally I posses it. I possess a car but I don’t carry it around in my pocket and it’s not on my physical self. Possession, the word, needs to be understood in legal terms. So, any person can face potential jail time based on ‘conscious possession’? A. But here an accused was denied bail on ‘conscious possession’, a new word which we have all come across now. Whereas the other two are for drug peddlers or cartels. Under the minimum quantity ambit come end users for which maximum punishment is one year. And under this Act there is a definition of minimum, medium and large quantity of narcotics and that is related to the punishment which can be given to the accused if found guilty. NDPS is a special enactment and it has been formed because drugs are a menace that’s destroying our families, our society. Our Constitution grants us certain rights, which include protection from malicious offences being registered and now, these rights have to be looked at in the context of what has happened in the last one month. Frankly, the way things have been presented is something that has scared even us lawyers.
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The much-debated part of the Aryan Khan case was that you can land up in jail even though you did not consume or possess narcotics. Mirza also shares some key pointers for both youngsters and their parents, on how some seemingly regular chats on WhatsApp can land you in trouble. Well-known lawyer Firdos Mirza who practices at the Bombay High Court believes the recent implementation of the NDPS Act by the narcotics control bureau (NCB) is draconian, even though the Act itself is not. The narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS) Act came into focus more than ever before due to the recent Aryan Khan case and kick-started a debate about the law being implemented.