NDPS ACT, NATIONAL TRUST ACT,PWD ACT,IDEAS.

DR.AJAY HALDER (PGT) CHAIRPERSON:PROF.O.P.SING IOP,KOLKATA

THE NARCOTIC DRUGS AND PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES ACT, 1985 (NDPS ACT, 1985)

Before 1985,the drug related matters were dealt with under three legislations ,namely 1. The opium act 1857, 2. The opium act 1878, 3. The dangerous drugs act 1930 The opium acts exclusively dealt with matters related to opium. The dangerous drugs act dealt with other drugs like cannabis and cocaine. It did not,however,deal with psychotropic substances wich were covered partially under the drugs and cosmetics act 1940; also ,no mention was made of cannabis cultivation in the act.

The maximum punishment, under the dangerous drug act, for the various offences related to drugs was a simple imprisonment of 3 years(with or without fine) for the first offence. However, when the drug situation in India worsened rapidly in early 1980s due to influx of heroine, a new legislation was necessary to cope up with the situation. This was effected by the enactment of the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substance act in 1985.

The narcotic drugs and psychotropic substance act (NDPS),act 61 of1985 as amended up to act 2 of 1989, along with the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances rules(NDPSR) 1985 and narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (execution of bond by convicts or addicts) rules [NDPS(EBCA)R] 1985. The act come into force on 14th november,1985. It consists of 6 chapters with 83 sections.

CHAPTER I (PRELIMINARY)


The act extends to the whole of India [and it applies also- (a)To all citizens of India outside India; (b) To all persons on ships and aircrafts registered in India, wherever they may be]

It deals with definitions of the various terms, some of wich are;  Addict means a person who has dependence on any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance;  Narcotic drug means coca leaf, cannabis (hemp), opium, poppy straw and includes all manufactured drugs;


"manufactured drug" means (a)all coca derivatives, medicinal cannabis, opium derivatives and poppy straw concentrate; (b)any other notified narcotic substances or preparations (88 have been notified).
 

"psychotropic substance" means any substance, natural or synthetic, or any natural material or any salt or preparation of such substance or materials included in the list of psychotropic substances specified in the Schedule.

controlled substance means any substance which may be use in the production or manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.

CHAPTER II (AUTHORITIES AND OFFICERS)



Among other authorities and officers, there is provision for appointment of a narcotic commissioner ,and a narcotic drugs and psychotropic substance consultative committee(with a chairman and other members, not exceeding 20) by the central government. There is provision under chapter IIa for constitution of a national fund for control of drug abuse(with a governing body consisting of a chairman and other members, not exceeding 6). The central government has constituted an authority known as narcotics control bureau(headed by a director general) with headquarter at Newdelhi and 5 zonal offices at Bombay, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Varanasi, on 17th march 1986 to exercise the powers and functions of central government under this act.

CHAPTER III (PROHIBITION, CONTROL AND REGULATION)

No person shall (a) cultivate any coca, opium poppy or any cannabis plant; or (b)produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import inter-State, export inter-State, import into India, export from India or transship any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, except for medical or scientific purposes and in the manner and to the extent provided by the provisions of this Act.

There are clauses in this chapter regarding the power of central and state government to permit, control and regulate the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, including the matter of licenses.

CHAPTER IV (OFFENCES AND PENALTIES)

PUNISHMENT FOR CONTRAVENTION IN RELATION TO Poppy straw,coca plant and leaves,prepared oppium,opium poppy and oppium,cannabis plant(except ganja),manufactured drugs:psychotropic substances Ganja or cultivation of cannabis plant 1ST OFFENCE Rigorous imprisonment( RI) 10-20 years and fine 1-2 lakh or even more RI may extend to 5 years and fine may extend to 50,000 2ND OFFENCE RI 15-30 years and fine 1.5-3 lakh or even more.

RI may extend to 10 years and fine may extend to 1 lakh or more

Any controlled substance

RI may extend to 10 years and fine may extend to 1 lakh or more

SMALL QUANTITIES:HEROINE(250MG),HASHISH/CHARAS(5GM),OPIU M(5GM),COCAINE(125MG),GANJA(500GM)

DEATH PENALTY
Any person who has been convicted earlier(section 15 to 25,or section 27a) and has been subsequently convicted in relation to involving the quantity equal to or more indicated against each such drug or substance as specified

Particulars of Narcotic Drugs/ Psychotropic Substances i) Opium ii) Morphine iii)Heroine iv) Codeine v)Thebaine vi) Cocaine vii) Hashish viii) Any mixture of any of the above drugs ix) LSD x) THC xi)Methamphetamine xii)Methaqualone xiii) Amphetamine xiv)Salts and preparations of substances mentioned in (ix) to (xiii) 1,500

Quantity(kg) 10 1 1 1 1 0.5 20 1.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5

In any prosecution for an offence under this Act, which requires a culpable mental state of the accused, the court shall presume the existence of such mental state but it shall be a defence for the accused to prove the fact that he had no such mental state with respect to the act charged as an offence in that prosecution. ( culpable mental state includes intention, motive, knowledge of a fact and belief in, or reason to believe, a fact)

The Government may, for the purpose of providing speedy trial of the offences under this Act,constitute as many special courts as may be necessary for such area or areas as may be specified in the notification. Any punishment more than 5 years imprisonment is non-bailable The court is empowered to publish names,places of business or residence,and nature of contravention of offenders under this chapter(except those convicted for small quantities under section 27).

CHAPTER V (PROCEDURE)


A Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class or any Magistrate of the second class specially empowered by the State Government in this behalf, may issue a warrant for the arrest of any person whom he has reason to believe to have committed any offence punishable under this Act. Any officer(the departments of central excise, narcotics, customs, revenue intelligence or any other department of the Central Government/state government including para-military or armed forces as is empowered in this behalf) has Power of entry, search, seizure and arrest without warrant or authorisation. CHAPTER V-A deals with forfeiture of property derived from,or used in illicit traffic.

CHAPTER VI(MISCELLANEOUS)

The Government may establish as many centres as it thinks fit for identification, treatment, education, after-care, rehabilitation, social reintegration of addicts and for supply, by the concerned Government of any narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances to the addicts registered with the Government and to others where such supply is a medical necessity.

The Government may make rules consistent with this Act providing for the establishment, appointment, maintenance, management and for supply of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and for the training, powers; duties. The Central Government may give such directions to a State Government regarding the carrying into execution of the provisions of this Act, and the State Government shall comply with such direction.

National Trust (For welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities) Act (1999)

Parents of severely disabled persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities feel a sense of insecurity regarding the welfare of their wards after their death. National Trust Act of 1999,has provisions for legal guardianship of the four categories and creation of enabling environment for as much independent living as possible. It has been implementing the Supported Guardianship Scheme to provide financial security to persons with severe disabilities who are destitute and abandoned by supporting the cost of guardianship.

1. Autism: It means a condition of uneven skill development primarily affecting the communication and social abilities of a person, marked by repetitive and ritualistic behavior. 2. Cerebral palsy: It means a group of non-progressive condition of a person characterized by abnormal motor control posture resulting from brain insult or injuries occurring in the prenatal, peri-natal or infant period of development. 3. Mental retardation: It means a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of person, which is specially characterized by sub-normality of intelligence. 4. Multiple disabilities: It means a combination of two or more disabilities as defined in section 2 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIANS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITY



A parent or relative of a person with disability may apply to the Local Level Committee for appointment of a guardian/or a person with disability. A registered organization can also make such an application with consent of the natural guardian of the disabled person. registered organization means an association of persons with disability or an association of parents of persons with disability or a voluntary organization, as the case may be, registered under section 12 of this Act; The Local Level Committees for different areas are comprising of District Magistrate or the District Commissioner along with one representative from a registered organization and a person with disability for a period of three years.

The Local Level Committee will examine whether the person with disability needs a guardian and for what purpose and also lay down the duties of the guardian.  The guardian will be responsible for the maintenance of the person with disability.


Every guardian shall also furnish to the said appointing authority within a period of three moths at the close of every financial year, an account of the property and assets in his charge, the sums received and disbursed on account of the person with disability and the balance remaining with him. These Local Level Committees have to meet at least once in three months.

A guardian so appointed can be removed for negligence or for misappropriating the property of the person with disability Any person removed under sub-section (2) shall be bound to deliver the charge of all property of the person with disability to the new guardian, and to account for all moneys received or disbursed by him. The scheme extends to the whole of India expect the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) (PWD) Act (1995)

The Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) (PWD) Act came into force in 1995 with the purpose of providing equal rights to disabled people and to protect their rights and full participation. It provides for education, employment, creation of barrier free environment, social security, etc. This Act is a major milestone in the care of disabled in India. This act includes seven conditions in its list of what it termed as disabilities:

1. Blindness: Total absence of sight or visual acuity not exceeding 6/60 in the better eye with correcting lenses; or limitation of the field of vision subtending an angle of 20 degrees or worse. 2. Low vision: A person with impairment of visual functioning even after treatment or standard refractive correction but who uses or is potentially capable of using vision for the planning or execution of a task with appropriate assistive device.

3. Leprosy-cured person: Any person cured of leprosy but is suffering from loss of sensation in hands or feet, loss of sensation and paresis in the eye and eye lid with or without other manifest deformity; manifest deformity and paresis, but having sufficient mobility in their hands and feet to enable them to engage in normal economic activity; or extreme physical deformity as well as advanced age which prevents him from undertaking any gainful occupation.

4. Hearing impairment: Loss of 60 decibels or more in the better ear in the conversational frequency range. 5. Locomotor disability: Disability of bones, joints or muscles leading to substantial restriction of movement of limbs or any form of cerebral palsy. 6. Mental retardation: A condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person which is specifically characterized by sub normality of intelligence. 7. Mental illness: Any mental disorder other than mental retardation.

The person with disability must have not less than 40% of disability as certified by a medical authority, which has been specified in the Act. The appropriate Governments shall ensure that the persons with disabilities obtain the disability certificates without any difficulty in the shortest possible time by adoption of simple, transparent and client-friendly procedures. They will be provided Social Security including Special Legal Provision for persons with severe / profound disabilities.

Disabled persons, their families and care givers incur substantial additional expenditure for facilitating activities of daily living, medical care, transportation, assistive devices, etc. Therefore, there is a need to provide them social security by various means. Central Government has been providing tax relief to persons with disabilities. The State Governments/ U.T. administrations have also been providing unemployment allowance / or disability pension. The present social security schemes are not comprehensive and also vary across the States. The State Governments will be encouraged to develop a comprehensive social security policy for persons with disabilities.

According to the PWD Rules, 1996, the Committee recommended that certification of disability for the purposes of the Act had to be carried out by a medical board comprising of the following members: a)TheMedical Superintendent/Principal/Director/Head of the institution or his nominee Chairperson b) Psychiatrist Member c) Physician Member

The certificate would be valid for a period of five years for those whose disability is 'temporary' and are below the age 18 years. For those who acquire permanent disability, the validity can be shown as 'permanent' in the certificate. When there are no chances of variation in the degree.

Although the inclusion of mental illness as one of the seven disabilities is a welcome step, the Act reflects very little understanding of the nature of the disability and current developments in the field of psychiatry.  The definition of mental illness as conditions other than mental retardation is an exclusive approach, and various psychiatric disorders cannot be included in this rubric.


INDIAN DISABILITY EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT SCALE(IDEAS)

This is a scale used for measuring and quantifying disability in mental disorders, which was developed by the Rehabilitation Committee of Indian Psychiatric Society in December 2000. It is well suited for measuring disability in Indian population in which it has been validated. The alpha value at various centers was 0.8682, indicating good internal consistency between the items.

IDEAS can be used only for evaluation of four mental illnesses:

1. Schizophrenia 2. Bipolar Affective Disorder 3. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder 4. Dementia

Duration of illness should be at least 2 years. The MI 2Y, i.e. the number of months of illness in the previous 2 years in which patient was symptomatic should be determined. The assessment and certification can only be done by a psychiatrist. Once issued, the temporary disability certificate is valid for a period of 5 years, thereafter re-certification has to be done.

ITEMS IN IDEAS
I. Self Care: Includes taking care of body hygiene, grooming, health including bathing, toileting, dressing, eating ,taking care of one's health. II. Interpersonal Activities (Social Relationships): Includes initiating and maintaining interactions with others in contextual and social appropriate manner. III. Communication and Understanding: Includes communication and conversation with others by producing and comprehending spoken/written/nonverbal messages. IV. Work : Three areas are Employment/ Housework/ Education Measures on any aspect.

1. Performing in Work/Job: Performing in work/ employment (paid) employment/ self employment/ family concern or otherwise. Measure ability to perform tasks at employment completely and efficiently and in proper time includes seeking employment 2.Performing in Housework: Maintaining household including cooking, caring for other people at home, taking care of belongings etc. Measures ability to take responsibility for and perform household tasks completely and efficiently and in proper time. 3.Performing in School/College: Measures performance education related tasks.

The items of IDEAS are scored as follows: 0 NO disability (none, absent, negligible) 1 MILD disability (slight, low) 2 MODERATE disability (medium, fair) 3 SEVERE disability (high, extreme) 4 PROFOUND disability (total, cannot do) Total score : Add scores of the four items and obtain a total score. Weightage for the duration of illness(DOI) is given as below: <2 years: score to be added is 1 2-5 years: add 2 6-10 years: add 3 >10 years: add 4

Global Disability Total Disability Score + DOI score = Global Disability Score (range 1 - 20) The percentage of disability is calculated from the Global Disability Scores as follows: (40% will be the cut off point) Score 0 No Disability = 0% Score 1-7 Mild Disability = < 40% Score 8-13 Moderate Disability = 40-70% Score 14-19 Severe Disability = 71-99% Score 20 Profound Disability = 100%

IDEAS SCORING SHEET

ITEMS SELF CARE Interpersonal Activities Communication & Understanding Work A. TOTAL SCORE B. DOI SCORE GLOBAL SCORE (A+B) 0 1 2 3 4

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