No bail for accused in drugs cases under Sindh CNS Act, rules special court

A special court for the Control of Narcotic Substances (CNS) has dismissed the bail application of a man in a drugs case. Saeed Nawab was allegedly caught with 1,030 grammes of charas (hashish) by the SITE-Superhighway Industrial Area police on February 24, 2025.

Judge Liaqat Ali Khoso of the special CNS court (Malir) announced his order on the application of the accused seeking post-arrest bail, dismissing it for being non-maintainable in the light of the Sindh CNS Act, 2024. The defence counsel contended that this court was empowered to hear and decide the bail plea on merits. He said that the right of bail could not be withdrawn by the law, which was against fundamental rights.

State prosecutor Riaz Ali Soomro argued that the Sindh CNS Act 2024 had been promulgated in October 2024, which repealed the operation of the CNS Act, 1997 in Sindh. The law was now applicable to all narcotics cases, he added.

He said the Section 35(1) of the Sindh Control of Narcotics Act 2024 overrode the provisions of the sections 496 and 498 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). He argued that the only remedy to be availed was to approach the Sindh High Court under its constitutional jurisdiction under the Article 199 of the Constitution. He added that if the police had wrongly applied the law in the FIR, it could be corrected at any stage of the investigation by the investigation officer (IO).

In his written order, the judge noted that the accused had been charged with the possession of 1,030 grammes of charas, which attracted the Sindh Control of Narcotic Substances Act 2024 and carried stringent punishment.

He cited the Section 35(1) of the Act, which said: "Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 496 and 497 of the Code, the bail shall not be granted to an accused person charged with an offence under this Act.”

The judge said that the new Act had overriding effect on the Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 1997 and its subsequent amendments under its Section 45. "In view of the above legal position, the instant post arrest bail application is not maintainable in the eyes of law hence, the same is dismissed being barred by section 35 of the Sindh Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 2024," he ruled.