Bhubaneswar: The menace of unbridled consumption of drugs and alcohol has been spreading rapidly across the state, which, in turn, has led to rise in illegal activities. This aside, many are victims of spurious liquor. But the state Excise department seems to turn a blind eye to the catastrophe.
Data collected by Orissa POST through RTI in connection with the performance of the Excise department in the state shows that 20,587 Excise cases and 17,196 persons arrested under the NPS Act and Excise Act in the four zones of the state during 2017-18. However, the rate of conviction has been miserably low.
For instance, 1,900 persons were arrested in Gajapati district alone under NDPS Act and Excise Act between 2009 and 2019, but the Excise department was able to prove the involvement of only three persons in illegal activities before the court. During this period, three accused were convicted under the above Acts, while 1,827 people were acquitted.
In Sundargarh district, 13,934 persons were arrested under the Excise Act, but 4,744 of them were acquitted. The remaining cases are sub judice. Not a single accused arrested under the NDPS Act was convicted.
The performance of the Excise department is similar in other districts too. There was no conviction under the Excise Act in Jharsuguda district during the same period, while almost all the accused held by the department were acquitted.
As many as 28 NDPS cases were registered in Jajpur between 2009 and 2019, but none has been convicted. Meanwhile, of the 2,846 who were arrested under the Excise Act only seven have been convicted and 700 were acquitted in this district during 2017-2018.
Unfortunately, the district Excise officials even did not bother to move higher courts against the acquittal of accused in any of the cases. The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasised that in case of acquittal in a criminal case, the erring investigating officer ‘must suffer the consequences of his lapses’.
However, in response to the RTI data, the district Excise authorities revealed that no action has been taken against the officers responsible for the acquittal of the accused persons in excise and NDPS cases between 2009 and 2019.
Gyan Ranjan Mohapatra, OP
