The bill to amend NDPS Act was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 6. (File)
A bill which seeks to rectify an anomaly in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was moved for consideration and passage in Lok Sabha with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying the amendments proposed only seek to correct certain "clerical error".
She said the NDPS (Amendment) Bill, 2021, has a very limited purpose and seeks to achieve "nothing more".
BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab opposed the bill calling it "illegal" and said it suffers with "incongruity" and contended that the law cannot be amended to include provisions with their "retrospective effect" in criminal cases.
"You are making another mistake to correct a mistake committed in the past. It will be challenged in the court of law," the BJD member said, stressing that amending the provisions of the NDPS Act with their retrospective effect would lead to "double jeopardy".
Earlier, moving the bill for its consideration and passage in the House, Finance Minister Sitharaman urged members to support the proposed amendments, saying it has been brought only to correct certain "clerical error" in the law and "nothing more" than that.
She also defended the ordinance, approved by President Ram Nath Kovind earlier in September, to rectify the said error in the Act, saying the order of a court necessitated changes in the law through an ordinance.
The bill was earlier introduced in the Lower House of Parliament on December 6.