The Juhu police on Monday sent summons to five of the 44 detainees who have tested positive for drug consumption.
The police said that the detainees would be given a week’s time to respond, after which punitive action will be considered against them.
“All those who have been sent the summons will be charged under Section 27 of the Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. After being produced in court, they will be offered a choice of undergoing a rehabilitation programme. We will be constituting a committee to oversee this process,” said Vishwas Nangre-Patil, additional commissioner of police, West region.
Section 27 of the NDPS Act provides that persons found to be in illegal possession of drugs in a small quantity are liable to a punishment of up to six months imprisonment or fine or both. However, the court is empowered to release the accused to undergo de-addiction programmes instead of straight away sentencing them to imprisonment. This is done by releasing the accused on a personal bond, the police said.
“Our outlook towards the detainees remains that of victims and not offenders. It is the organisers and the peddlers against whom we will be taking stricter action,” Mr Nangre-Patil added.
The Juhu police will be sending out summons in batches of five to 10 people at a time so that the workload can be handled efficiently. Dates for responding to the summons will be set in accordance with the workload and availability of officers, the police said.
The 44 detainees had tested positive for consumption of cannabis and MDMA at a rave party that was busted at the plush Oakwood Hotel in Juhu.