(1) This Act may be called the Prevention of IllicitTraffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.

(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 4th day of July, 1988.

Vide notification No. S.O. 3912(E), dated 30th October, 2019, this Act is made applicable to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union territory of Ladakh.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--

(a) "appropriate Government" means, as respects a detention order made by the CentralGovernment or by an officer of the Central Government, or a person detained under such order, theCentral Government, and as respects a detention order made by a State Government or by an officerof a State Government, or a person detained under such order, the State Government;

(b) "customs airport" means any airport appointed under clause (a) of section 7 of the CustomsAct, 1962 (52 of 1962) to be a customs airport;

(c) "detention order" means an order made under section 3;

(d) "foreigner" has the same meaning as in the Foreigners Act, 1946 (31 of 1946);

(e) "illicit traffic", in relation to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, means--

(i) cultivating any coca plant or gathering any portion of coca plant;

(ii) cultivating the opium poppy or any cannabis plant;

(iii) engaging in the production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transportation,warehousing, concealment, use or consumption, import inter-State, export inter-State, import intoIndia, export from India or transhipment, of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances;

(iv) dealing in any activities in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances other than thoseprovided in sub-clauses (i) to (iii); or

(v) handling or letting any premises for the carrying on of any of the activities referred to insub-clauses (i) to (iv),

other than those permitted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (61 of1985), or any rule or order made, or any condition of any licence, term or authorisation issued,thereunder and includes--

(1) financing, directly or indirectly, any of the aforementioned activities;

(2) abetting or conspiring in the furtherance of or in support of doing any of theaforementioned activities; and

(3) harbouring persons engaged in any of the aforementioned activities;

(f) "Indian customs waters" has the same meaning as in clause (28) of section 2 of the CustomsAct, 1962 (52 of 1962);

(g) "State Government", in relation to a Union territory, means the Administrator thereof;

(h) words and expressions used herein but not defined, and defined in the Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (61 of 1985), have the meanings respectively assigned to them inthat Act.

(1) The Central Government or a StateGovernment, or any officer of the Central Government, not below the rank of a Joint Secretary to thatGovernment, specially empowered for the purposes of this section by that Government, or any officer of aState Government, not below the rank of a Secretary to that Government, specially empowered for thepurposes of this section by that Government, may, if satisfied, with respect to any person (including aforeigner) that, with a view to preventing him from engaging in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs andpsychotropic substances, it is necessary so to do, make an order directing that such person be detained.

(2) When any order of detention is made by a State Government or by an officer empowered by aState Government, the State Government shall, within ten days, forward to the Central Government areport in respect of the order.

(3) For the purposes of clause (5) of article 22 of the Constitution, the communication to a persondetained in pursuance of a detention order of the grounds on which the order has been made shall be madeas soon as may be after the detention, but ordinarily not later than five days, and in exceptionalcircumstances and for reasons to be recorded in writing not later than fifteen days, from the date ofdetention.

A detention order may be executed at any place in India in themanner provided for the execution of warrants of arrest under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of1974).

Every person in respect of whom adetention order has been made shall be liable--

(a) to be detained in such place and under such conditions including conditions as tomaintenance, interviews or communication with others, discipline and punishment for breaches ofdiscipline, as the appropriate Government may, by general or special order, specify; and

(b) to be removed from one place of detention to another place of detention, whether within thesame State or in another State by order of the appropriate Government:

Provided that no order shall be made by a State Government under clause (b) for the removal of aperson from one State to another State except with the consent of the Government of that other State.

Where a person has been detained in pursuance of an order ofdetention under sub-section (1) of section 3 which has been made on two or more grounds, such order ofdetention shall be deemed to have been made separately on each of such grounds and accordingly

(a) such order shall not be deemed to be invalid or inoperative merely because one or some of thegrounds is or are

(i) vague,

(ii) non-existent,

(iii) not relevant,

(iv) not connected or not proximately connected with such person, or

(v) invalid for any other reason whatsoever,

and it is not therefore possible to hold that the Government or officer making such order would havebeen satisfied as provided in sub-section (1) of section 3 with reference to the remaining ground orgrounds and made the order of detention;

(b) the Government or officer making the order of detention shall be deemed to have made theorder of detention under the said sub-section (1) after being satisfied as provided in that sub-sectionwith reference to the remaining ground or grounds.

No detention ordershall be invalid or inoperative merely by reason--

(a) that the person to be detained thereunder is outside the limits of the territorial jurisdiction ofthe Government or the officer making the order of detention; or

(b) that the place of detention of such person is outside the said limits.

(1) If the appropriate Government has reason tobelieve that a person in respect of whom a detention order has been made has absconded or is concealinghimself so that the order cannot be executed, that Government may--

(a) make a report in writing of the fact to a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the firstclass having jurisdiction in the place where the said person ordinarily resides; and thereupon theprovisions of sections 82, 83, 84 and 85 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) shallapply in respect of the said person and his property as if the order directing that he be detained were awarrant issued by the Magistrate;

(b) by order notified in the Official Gazette direct the said person to appear before such officer, atsuch place and within such period as may be specified in the order; and if the said person fails tocomply with such direction, he shall, unless he proves that it was not possible for him to complytherewith and that he had, within the period specified in the order, informed the officer mentioned inthe order of the reason which rendered compliance therewith impossible and of his whereabouts, bepunishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), everyoffence under clause (b) of sub- section (1) shall be cognizable.

For the purposes of sub-clause (a) of clause (4) and sub-clause (c) of clause(7) of article 22 of the Constitution,

(a) the Central Government and each State Government shall, whenever necessary, constitute oneor more Advisory Boards each of which shall consist of a Chairman and two other persons possessingthe qualifications specified in sub-clause (a) of clause (4) of article 22 of the Constitution;

(b) save as otherwise provided in section 10, the appropriate Government shall, within five weeksfrom the date of detention of a person under a detention order, make a reference in respect thereof tothe Advisory Board constituted under clause (a) to enable the Advisory Board to make the reportunder sub-clause (a) of clause (4) of article 22 of the Constitution;

(c) the Advisory Board to which a reference is made under clause (b) shall after considering thereference and the materials placed before it and after calling for such further information as it maydeem necessary from the appropriate Government or from any person called for the purpose throughthe appropriate Government or from the person concerned, and if, in any particular case, it considersit essential so to do or if the person concerned desires to be heard in person, after hearing him inperson, prepare its report specifying in a separate paragraph thereof its opinion as to whether or notthere is sufficient cause for the detention of the person concerned and submit the same within elevenweeks from the date of detention of the person concerned;

(d) when there is a difference of opinion among the members forming the Advisory Board, theopinion of the majority of such members shall be deemed to be the opinion of the Board;

(e) a person against whom an order of detention has been made under this Act shall not beentitled to appear by any legal practitioner in any matter connected with the reference to the AdvisoryBoard and the proceedings of the Advisory Board and its report, excepting that part of the report inwhich the opinion of the Advisory Board is specified, shall be confidential;

(f) in every case where the Advisory Board has reported that there is in its opinion sufficientcause for the detention of a person, the appropriate Government may confirm the detention order andcontinue the detention of the person concerned for such period as it thinks fit and in every case wherethe Advisory Board has reported that there is in its opinion no sufficient cause for the detention of theperson concerned, the appropriate Government shall revoke the detention order and cause the personto be released forthwith.

(1) Notwithstanding anythingcontained in this Act, any person (including a foreigner) in respect of whom an order of detention is madeunder this Act at any time before the 1[31st day of July, 1999] may be detained without obtaining, inaccordance with the provisions of sub-clause (a) of clause (4) of article 22 of the Constitution, the opinionof an Advisory Board for a period longer than three months but not exceeding six months from the date ofhis detention, where the order of detention has been made against such person with a view to preventinghim from engaging in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and the CentralGovernment or any officer of the Central Government, not below the rank of an Additional Secretary tothat Government, specially empowered for the purposes of this section by that Government, is satisfiedthat such person engages or is likely to engage in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropicsubstances into, out of, through or within any area highly vulnerable to such illicit traffic and makes adeclaration to that effect within five weeks of the detention of such person.

Explanation1.--In this sub-section, "area highly vulnerable to such illicit traffic" means--

(i) the India customs waters;

(ii) the customs airports;

(iii) the metropolitan cities of Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Madras and the city of Varanasi;

(iv) the inland area one hundred kilo metres in width from the coast of India falling within theterritories of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa,Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and the Union territories of Daman and Diu and Pondicherry;

(v) the inland area one hundred kilo metres in width from--

(a) the India-Pakistan border in the States of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan;

(b) the India-Nepal border in the States of Bihar, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal;

(c) the India-Burma border in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram andNagaland;

(d) the India-Bangladesh border in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and WestBengal;

(e) the India-Bhutan border in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim and WestBengal;

(vi) such other area or customs station, as the Central Government may, having regard to thevulnerability of such area or customs station, as the case may be, to illicit traffic, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, specify in this behalf.

Explanation 2.--For the purposes of Explanation 1, "customs station" has the same meaning as inclause (13) of section 2 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962).

(2) In the case of any person detained under a detention order to which the provisions of sub-section(1) apply, section 9 shall have effect subject to the following modifications, namely:--

(i) in clause (b), for the words "shall, within five weeks", the words "shall, within four monthsand two weeks" shall be substituted;

(ii) in clause (c),--

(a) for the words "the detention of the person concerned", the words "the continued detentionof the person concerned" shall be substituted;

(b) for the words "eleven weeks", the words "five months and three weeks" shall besubstituted;

(iii) in clause (f), for the words "for the detention", at both the places where they occur, the words"for the continued detention" shall be substituted.

1. Subs. by Act 16 of 1996, s. 2, for "31st day of July, 1996" (w.e.f. 30-7-1990).

The maximum period for which any person may be detained inpursuance of any detention order to which the provisions of section 10 do not apply and which has beenconfirmed under clause (f) of section 9 shall be one year from the date of detention, and the maximumperiod for which any person may be detained in pursuance of any detention order to which the provisionsof section 10 apply and which has been confirmed under clause (f) of section 9, read with sub-section (2)of section 10, shall be two years from the date of detention:

Provided that nothing contained in this section shall affect the power of appropriate Government ineither case to revoke or modify the detention order at any earlier time.

(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 21 of theGeneral Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897), a detention order may, at any time, be revoked or modified--

(a) notwithstanding that the order has been made by an officer of a State Government, by thatState Government or by the Central Government;

(b) notwithstanding that the order has been made by an officer of the Central Government or by aState Government, by the Central Government.

(2) The revocation of a detention order shall not bar the making of another detention order undersection 3 against the same person.

(1) The Central Government may, at any time, directthat any person detained in pursuance of a detention order made by that Government or by an officersubordinate to that Government or by a State Government or by an officer subordinate to a StateGovernment, may be released for any specified period either without conditions or upon such conditionsspecified in the direction as that person accepts, and may, at any time, cancel his release.

(2) A State Government may, at any time, direct that any person detained in pursuance of a detentionorder made by that Government or by an officer subordinate to that Government may be released for anyspecified period either without conditions or upon such conditions specified in the direction as the personaccepts, and may, at any time, cancel his release.

(3) In directing the release of any person under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the Governmentdirecting the release may require him to enter into a bond with sureties for the due observance of theconditions specified in the direction.

(4) Any person released under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall surrender himself at the timeand place, and to the authority, specified in the order directing his release, or cancelling his release, as thecase may be.

(5) If any person fails without sufficient cause to surrender himself in the manner specified in subsection(4), he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or withfine, or with both.

(6) If any person released under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) fails to fulfil any of the conditionsimposed upon him under the said sub-section or in the bond entered into by him, the bond shall bedeclared to be forfeited and any person bound thereby shall be liable to pay the penalty thereof.

(7) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law and save as otherwise provided in thissection, no person against whom a detention order made under this Act is in force shall be releasedwhether on bail or bail bond or otherwise.

No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against theCentral Government or a State Government and no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lieagainst any person for anything in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act.

[Amendment of Act 52 of 1974.] Rep. by the Repealing and Amending Act, 2001 (30 of 2001), s. 2and the First Schedule (w.e.f.3-9-2001).

(1) The Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and PsychotropicSubstances Ordinance, 1988 (Ord. 7 of 1988), is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Ordinance shall bedeemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.