KARACHI, Aug 18: Appointment of drugs court members on a part-time basis, drug inspectors’ reluctance to attend legal proceedings, absence of a malkhana and insufficient space are the major factors hampering speedy disposal of cases pending before the only drug court in the province, it emerged on Saturday.

Sources said that around 110 cases were pending before the drug court, which comprised a chairman and two members, and around 450 cases were waiting for approval of the quality control board for trial.

The court was established about 36 years ago under the Drugs Act of 1976 to prosecute those violating the law that regulated the import, export, storage, distribution, manufacture and sale of drugs. Initially, the court in Karachi was instituted for both Sindh and Balochistan provinces, but it was specified for Sindh only after a drugs court was established in Quetta in 1998.

Besides Karachi and Quetta, drugs courts have been set up in Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Multan, Faisalabad, and Bahawalpur.

Since its inception, the drugs court in Karachi has no proper premises as it is currently housed in a portion of an insurance tribunal’s office near the State Life building on Dr Ziauddin Ahmad Road.

A court official said the current location did not meet tribunal requirements, as it was not only short of space for parking but also without proper security arrangements.

The drugs court tribunal comprises a chairman, who is qualified for appointment as a judge of the high court, and two members, who must be expert in medical or pharmaceutical fields.

Basic facilities

Currently the drugs court comprises Sathi M. Ishaq (chairman), Dr Nighat Qadri (member) and Dr Javed Bukhari (member). Both members are working on a part-time basis.

The sources said that since the members were not appointed on a permanent basis, the tribunal functioned only three days a week. They explained that a case could not be tried until the drugs court quorum was complete.

The court did not have a bailiff to execute its orders as the drugs inspectors usually made unwanted delay in serving notices or implementing other directives of court, they added.

In the absence of a malkhana for drugs court, the drugs inspectors had to take the case properties (seized drugs) back to their offices after producing it before the court, the sources said.

However, they added, the practice seemed damaging for the prosecution side because it had been witnessed in several cases over the past few months that the case proprieties went missing or got destroyed for one reason or the other.

Quality control board

The sources said that a large number of cases were waiting for approval, because drugs inspectors were not authorised to register a case without the permission of the provincial quality control board.

The drugs law says that the provincial inspectors on finding any contravention of this act shall, unless the board otherwise directs, always refer the case to the provincial quality control board and seek orders on the action to be taken in respect of such contravention. Similarly, the federal inspectors must refer the case to the central licensing board or the registration board or any other authority as may be specified for the purpose, according to the law.

The sources said that after collecting samples of drugs, the inspectors were bound to send the same to the authorities within seven days for the purpose of test or analysis, and then wait for the approval of the provincial quality control board. They added that the board then examined the inspectors and reports and issued instructions to the inspectors for what action was to be taken on such reports.

According to the drugs law, the board should hold at least one meeting in 60 days but it mostly failed to hold its meetings on time causing a delay in the approval of cases for trial, said the sources.

Drugs inspectors

They said that speedy disposal of cases was also disturbed when the drugs inspectors, who had a crucial role in detecting and destroying spurious drugs, appeared reluctant to attend court proceedings despite repeated notices and warrants issued to them.

The court sources said there were only six drug inspectors for the entire city, while the performance of provincial drug inspectors was also not up to the mark.

Only a few cases were being reported despite the fact that a large number of unauthorised suppliers were reportedly selling substandard and fake medicines across the province, they said.