Hyderabad: Despite claims by the Telangana government and police of prioritizing drug control, the conviction rate in NDPS Act cases in the state remains poor. According to data provided by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityananda Rai in the Lok Sabha in 2025, Telangana ranked 28th among 36 states and Union Territories in conviction rate under the NDPS Act.
The data reveals that from 2020 to 2022, Telangana registered 509, 1,346, and 1,279 NDPS cases respectively, with conviction rates of 23.8%, 25.6%, and 27.4%. In contrast, Kerala recorded 4,968, 5,695, and 26,619 cases with conviction rates of 97.1%, 98.9%, and 99.4%. Karnataka saw 4,054, 5,787, and 6,399 cases with rates of 90.3%, 93%, and 89.9%, while Tamil Nadu had 5,403, 6,852, and 10,385 cases with rates of 78.2%, 82.9%, and 81.3%. Andhra Pradesh performed worse than Telangana, with 866, 1,635, and 1,391 cases and conviction rates of 12.7%, 25.4%, and 6.1%.
Telangana police now claim improvement. In 2025, 2,542 NDPS cases were registered, with 81 convictions. In 2024, 2,169 cases led to 39 convictions. An EAGLE official noted an increase in convictions in 2025. However, Hyderabad faces the worst situation. Since 2019, trials began in 1,450 NDPS cases involving intermediate and commercial quantities of contraband at designated sessions courts. Only six convictions were secured, while 250 accused were acquitted, and the rest remain under trial.
A review of acquittal orders in Hyderabad cases reveals key reasons for poor performance: reliance on co-accused confessions, hostile witnesses, procedural lapses in evidence collection and laboratory submission, and delays in sending evidence to labs. For instance, in October 2023, a local court acquitted a Dutch tech professional found with 2.6 grams of Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) at his flat in Gachibowli. The court noted that excise sleuths used their own constable as a mediator during the search, lacking independent witnesses. The contraband was deposited in court 45 days after seizure, and the prosecution failed to establish a secure chain of custody.
In another case registered at Punjagutta police station in January 2022, police arrested a 27-year-old Harvard graduate and entrepreneur for allegedly procuring and consuming cocaine from a foreign peddler. In August 2023, the high court quashed proceedings, stating that the police had no evidence beyond the accused's confession. The court observed, "Except for the confessional statement of the petitioner, there is no evidence to suggest that he purchased or consumed a narcotic substance."
A senior anti-narcotics official acknowledged the low conviction rate but said field-level police personnel have been receiving specialized training in handling NDPS cases since 2024.
