Section 2: Definitions

Plain-Language Summary

A general explanation to aid understanding. The official statutory text appears below.

This section defines the following terms used in The Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997: • addict — a person physically or mentally dependent on any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance or a person who habitually uses narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances • assets — any property owned, controlled or belonging to an accused, whether directly or indirectly, or in the name of his spouse or relatives or associates whether within or without Pakistan for which they cannot reasonably account • cannabis plant — any plant of the genus cannabis • coca bush — the plant of any species of the genus Erythroxylon • controlled delivery — the technique of allowing illicit or suspect consignments of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or chemical precursors to pass out of, through or into Pakistan, with the knowledge and under the supervision of the Federal Government with a view to identifying persons involved in the commission of offences cognizable under this Act • controlled substance — any substance which may be used for the production or manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substance 1[or which is declared to be a controlled substance and given in the Schedule-II pursuant to the provision of any international convention, and by notification in the official Gazette by the divison concerned,] • conveyance — a conveyance of any description whatsoever and includes, any aircraft, vehicle, vessel, railways or animal • Director-General — Director-General of the Anti-Narcotics Force or anyother officer appointed by the Federal Government to perform the duties and functions of the Director-General under this Act; and • foreign court — a court of competent jurisdiction of a foreign country recognised by the Federal-Government from time to time • freezing — prohibiting by an order made by the Special Court or an officer authorised under this Act the transfer, conversion, disposal or movement of any assets and includes the holding, controlling, assuming custody or managing any assets in pursuance of such order and, in the case of assets which are perishable the disposal thereof; 1[ • medicinal hemp — any extract or tincture of hemp • narcotic drug — coca leaf, cannabis, heroin, opium, poppy straw and all manufactured drugs • opium poppy — the plant of the species Papaver Somniferum L • poppy straw — all the parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy after mowing • poppy straw concentrate — the material obtained after the poppy straw has been subjected to a process for the concentration of its alkaloids • prescribed — prescribed by rules made under this Act • psychotropic substance — the substances, specified in the 1[Schedule-I] to this Act and such substances as the Federal Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be a psychotropic substance • Special Court — the Special Court established under section 46 or any other court empowered to exercise the powers of the Special Court under this Act; and • tracing — the finding out the true nature, source, disposition, movement or ownership of assets and includes determining the movement or conversion of assets by any means, and “trace” shall be construed accordingly This is the official statutory text, shown as written — it is not a paraphrase or a legal opinion. Consult a verified lawyer to see how it applies to your specific situation.

2. Definitions.___In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,___ (a) “addict” means a person physically or mentally dependent on any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance or a person who habitually uses narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances; (b) “assets” means any property owned, controlled or belonging to an accused, whether directly or indirectly, or in the name of his spouse or relatives or associates whether within or without Pakistan for which they cannot reasonably account ; (c) “associate”, in relation to an accused, means__ (i) any individual who is, or has, at the relevant time been ordinarily residing in the residential premises including out-houses and servant-quarters of an accused; (ii) any individual who, is or has, at the relevant time been managing the affairs or keeping the accounts of an accused ; 1 This Act shall apply to FATA, vide S.R.O. No. 1295(I)/98, dated 16-11-1998. 2 Ins. and subs. by the control of narcotic substances (Amdt.) Act 2022 (XX of 2022) s. 2. (iii) any association of persons, body of individuals, firm or private limited company within the meaning of 1[Companies Act, 2017 (XIX of 2017) and the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2017 (XV of 2017)], of which an accused is, or has, at the relevant time been a member, partner or director; (iv) any individual who is, or has, been at the relevant time a member, partner or director of any association of persons, body of individuals, firm or a private limited company referred to in sub-clause (iii); (v) a trustee of any trust created by an accused; or (vi) where the Special Court, for reasons to be recorded, considers that any property of an accused is held on his behalf by any other person, such other person; (d) “cannabis (hemp)” means___ (i) cannabis resin (charas) that is, the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from the cannabis plant and also includes concentrated preparation and resin known as hashish oil or liquid hashish; (ii) the flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant (excluding the seed and leaves when not accompanied by the tops) from which the resin has not been extracted, by whatever name they may be designated or known 1[and include all forms known as bhang, siddhi or ganja]; and (iii) any mixture with or without neutral materials of any of the above forms of cannabis or any drink prepared therefrom; (e) “cannabis plant” means any plant of the genus cannabis; (f) “coca bush” means the plant of any species of the genus Erythroxylon; (g) “coca derivative” means__ (i) crude cocaine, that is, any extract of coca leaf which can be used, directly or indirectly for the manufacture or production of cocaine; (ii) ecgonine, that is, leave-ecgonine having the chemical formula C9H15NO3H2O and all chemical derivatives of leavo-ecgonine including benzoylecgonine from which it can be recovered; (iii) cocaine, that is, methyl-benzoyl-leave-ecgonine having the chemical formula C17H21NO4 and its salts; and (iv) all preparations containing more than 0.1 per cent of cocaine; 1 Subs. and Ins. by the control of narcotic substances (Amdt.) Act 2022 (XX of 2022) s. 3. (h) “coca leaf” means__ (i) the leave of the coca bush except a leaf from which all ecgonine, cocaine or any other ecgonine alkaloids have been removed; (ii) any mixture thereof, with or without neutral material, but does not include any preparation containing not more than 0.1 per cent of cocaine; (j) “controlled delivery” means the technique of allowing illicit or suspect consignments of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or chemical precursors to pass out of, through or into Pakistan, with the knowledge and under the supervision of the Federal Government with a view to identifying persons involved in the commission of offences cognizable under this Act; (k) “controlled substance” means any substance which may be used for the production or manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substance 1[or which is declared to be a controlled substance and given in the Schedule-II pursuant to the provision of any international convention, and by notification in the official Gazette by the divison concerned,]; (l) “conveyance” means a conveyance of any description whatsoever and includes, any aircraft, vehicle, vessel, railways or animal; (m) “Director-General” means Director-General of the Anti-Narcotics Force or anyother officer appointed by the Federal Government to perform the duties and functions of the Director-General under this Act; and (n) “foreign court” means a court of competent jurisdiction of a foreign country recognised by the Federal-Government from time to time; (o) “freezing” means prohibiting by an order made by the Special Court or an officer authorised under this Act the transfer, conversion, disposal or movement of any assets and includes the holding, controlling, assuming custody or managing any assets in pursuance of such order and, in the case of assets which are perishable the disposal thereof; 1[(oa) “illicit traffic” in the relation to narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or controlled substances means __ (i) cultivating any coca plant or gathering any portion of cocoa plant; (ii) cultivating the opium poppy or any cannabis plant or gathering in any portion of opium poppy or cannabis plant; 1 Ins. by the control of narcotic substances (Amdt.) Act 2022 (XX of 2022) s. 3. (iii) engaging in the production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transportation, warehousing, concealment, use or consumption, import into Pakistan, export from Pakistan or transship any narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances or controlled substances; (iv) dealing in any activities in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances or controlled substances other than those referred to in sub-clauses (i) to (iii); (v) handling or letting out any premises for the carrying on of any of the activities referred to in sub-clauses (i) to (iv); (vi) financing directly or indirectly any of the aforementioned activities; (vii) abetting or conspiring in the furtherance of or in support of doing any of the aforementioned activities; or (viii) harboring persons engaged in any of the aforementioned activities.; (ob) “international convention” means__ (i) the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs done at New York on the (ii) any other narcotic substance which the Federal Government may, by notification in the official Gazette made in pursuance of recommendations of any International Convention or otherwise, declare to be a manufactured drug; (r) “medicinal hemp” means any extract or tincture of hemp; (s) “narcotic drug” means coca leaf, cannabis, heroin, opium, poppy straw and all manufactured drugs; (t) “opium” means__ (i) poppy straw, that is to say, all parts of the poppy plant (Papaver somniferum or any other species of Papaver) after mowing other than the seeds; (ii) the spontaneously coagulated juice of capsules of poppy which has not been submitted to any manipulations other than those necessary for packing and transport; and (iii) any mixture, with or without natural materials, of any of the above forms of opium, but does not include any preparation containing not more than 0.2 per cent of morphine; (u) “opium derivative” includes__ (i) medicinal opium, that is, opium which has undergone the process necessary to adapt it for medicinal use; (ii) prepared opium, that is, any product of opium obtained by any series of operations designed to transform opium into an extract suitable for smoking, and the dross or other residue remaining after opium is smoked; (iii) morphine, that is, the principal alkaloid of opium having the chemical formula C17H19NO3 and its salts; (iv) diacetylmorphine, that is, the semisynthetic substance, also known as diamorphine or heroin, having the chemical formula C21 H23NO5 and its salts; and (v) all preparations containing more than 0.2 per cent of morphine, or containing any diacetylmorphine ; (v) “opium poppy” means the plant of the species Papaver Somniferum L; (w) “poppy straw” means all the parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy after mowing; (x) “poppy straw concentrate” means the material obtained after the poppy straw has been subjected to a process for the concentration of its alkaloids; (y) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (z) “property” includes__ (i) all forms of property, whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, real estate or personal propertyof every description; (ii) property used to commit, or to abet the commission of, an offence punishable under this Act; (iii) all kinds of shares or interest in any corporate body, company, firm, business concern, society or fund; and (iv) all documents of title to land, goods or property wherever situated, money or valuable security issued by the Government; (za) “psychotropic substance” means the substances, specified in the 1[Schedule-I] to this Act and such substances as the Federal Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be a psychotropic substance; (zb) “relative”, in relation to an accused, means the spouse or any lineal descendant of the accused and includes any other person holding property for or on his behalf; (zc) “Special Court” means the Special Court established under section 46 or any other court empowered to exercise the powers of the Special Court under this Act; and (zd) “tracing” means the finding out the true nature, source, disposition, movement or ownership of assets and includes determining the movement or conversion of assets by any means, and “trace” shall be construed accordingly.

Effective date: 1997-07-11

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