“Police Must Act In The True Spirit Of Their Duty”
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The Bombay High Court took suo motu action over reports of drug, cigarette, and e-cigarette sales near schools and colleges. Emphasising student safety, it said, “Police must act in the true spirit of their duty” to prevent addiction.
Mumbai: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court expressed serious concern for the safety of school and college students, taking suo motu cognizance of media reports that highlight the widespread sale of drugs, cigarettes, and e-cigarettes near educational institutions.
During a hearing on June 20, a division bench consisting of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Y.G. Khobragade described the reports as “disturbing” and pointed out a concerning trend of vendors targeting young students with prohibited and addictive substances.
The bench remarked,
“Young students of an impressionable age are enticed into consumption of such drugs and cigarettes, virtually opening the path towards addiction and their physical destruction.”
The court instructed the police in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) to take immediate and earnest action to combat the illegal sales of these substances near educational campuses.
The bench emphasized,
“Police must act in the true spirit of their duty to ensure that the youth of this nation are not lured into addiction.”
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To promote a long-term institutional response, the court appointed senior advocate P.R. Katneshwarkar as amicus curiae and tasked him with filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on this issue.
The court noted that such a PIL would allow it to provide detailed and binding directives to the relevant authorities.
