The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has slammed Gujarat’s home department for neither establishing proper storage facilities for seized drugs nor making provisions for their expeditious disposal as per the procedures prescribed under the NDPS Act and orders of the Supreme Court.
In its report for the period that ended March 2024, which was tabled in the Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday, the last day of its budget session, CAG highlighted the two-decade-long pendency in receipt of FSL or forensic science laboratory reports and lack of basic infrastructure to store drugs seized in the state, even by specialised agencies such as the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and CID Crime and Railways, leading to theft and destruction of narcotics in police custody.
The audit noted that these shortfalls “highlighted weak institutional controls and lack of supervisory oversight at multiple levels.”
144 kg of ganja in CID custody stolen, some destroyed by rats
The office of the ADGP of CID Crime and Railways in Gandhinagar informed auditors that several drug and enforcement agencies had seized 6,510.54 kg and 848 bottles of narcotic drugs and controlled substances in 17 cases between August 2010 and November 2022.
The office further claimed that in January 2025, it disposed of all drugs pertaining to the cases registered between August 2021 and November 2024. However, there was a significant variation of 35% in the actual quantity disposed of, which stood at 4,177.86 kg, between October 2022 and July 2023.
“In February 2024, the ADGP office attributed the shortfall in disposal to the theft of nearly 144.180 kg of cannabis (ganja), destruction by rats due to lack of proper storage facilities and drying out of green plants of cannabis and opium, and loss of moisture in poppy straw,” the report stated.
However, the audit found: “While these factors may partially explain the reduction in the disposed quantity, the overall variation of 35% highlights the need for a relook at the facilities of storage and disposal of seized drugs and the shortcomings, if any, thereof.
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The audit also observed that the date of making application to the magistrate was not available in one case. In 36 other cases, such applications were made after 34 to 2,816 days (6 years) of receipt of FSL reports against the stipulated 30 days, thereby making the delays attributable to the offices concerned.”
The audit also did not believe the justification given by the CID regarding the gap in disposal. It said: “It can be inferred that the home department neither established proper storage facilities to prevent theft and destruction of drugs nor did it dispose the seized drugs expeditiously. The difference between the drug seized and drugs disposed, range between 11.99% and 93.201% in the absence of specific guidelines regarding acceptable limits of weight loss due to evaporation and weather factors the loss attributed to such reasons lacked justification.”
No storage vault at ATS
An audit of the ACS home department for the period April 2016-March 2023, conducted between November 2023 and February 2024 showed, “The office of the ADGP ATS ceased 2,968.476 kg of narcotic drugs and controlled substances between February 2016 and February 2023 in 33 cases. Out of this 650.582 kg of drugs seized between 2019 and 2022, remained to be disposed as of February 2024. Moreover, the drugs were kept in normal rooms instead of safes or vaults with a double locking system, making them prone to theft and pilferage.”
23 years for FSL reports, 31 years for disposal in Bharuch
The CAG report found the perfect storm of all that was wrong in the system in one district, Bharuch.
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As of April 2025, there were a total of 148 cases of drugs seizure between 1995 and March 2024 registered by the Bharuch Police. Drugs seized in 41 of these cases had been disposed of as of April 2025. The office of the Bharuch SP also furnished details of the status of seized drugs in respect to 33 out of the remaining 107 cases.
The audit analysed the same and observed that 788.656 kg and 22 bottles of various types of drugs were seized between 1995 and March 2024 in the nine police stations of Bharuch. However as of April 2025, only seven kg of drugs were disposed as of December 2024 in only two cases after passage of 19 to 21 years of their seizure. This left the remaining 31 cases undisposed, despite passage of substantial time (ranging between one to 30 years) since the seizure.
The audit further noted, “In three cases, the police station was not aware of the whereabouts of 24.550 kg of charas/ganja. In 12 cases, the report from the FSL was pending even after a lapse of one to 23 years. As a result, the application for the disposal of drugs was yet to be made to the magistrate as of April 2025. In one case of 20.961 kg of ganja, the application for disposal was not made to the magistrate even after a lapse of 17 months after receipt of the FSL report.”
It further said, “In 13 cases, applications were made between July 2024 and February 2025 before the magistrate after a lapse of more than one month of the FSL report. This delay ranged between one and 63 months, and these applications were finally made only after the audit pointed it out in May 2023.”
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Moreover, approximately 515 kg of ganja seized in November 2013, for which the forensic report was still pending as of April 2025, were kept in the ‘muddamal’ (evidence) room of the police station due to absence of safes or vaults.
‘No response from govt despite reminders’
Regarding the state of drug storage and disposal in Gujarat, the audit remarked, “These shortfalls highlighted weak institutional controls and lack of supervisory oversight at multiple levels. Such lapses compromise the integrity of the criminal justice process, increase the risk of diversion of his drugs to illicit channels and expose public funds and public safety to continuing vulnerability.”
The home department also refused to answer these shortfalls to the CAG. The report stated, “The department was notified in July 2025 and their response was awaited as of November 2025 despite reminders sent in September and October 2025.”
