Tanisha Rana
Published on: August 29, 2022 at 15:14 IST
Recently, the Karnataka High Court held that nowhere in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act), the bhang is referred as a prohibited drink or prohibited drug. Thus, the Court held that bhang is not covered under the NDPS Act.
The single-judge bench comprising of Justice K Natarajan, while granting bail to a man accused of possessing Bhang, held that there is no scientific evidence or forensic science lab report to show that the Bhang is prepared either out of ganja or ganja leaves or charas. Hence, the court held that, it is not a prohibited drug or prohibited drink.
The Court while passing the judgment, relied on the judgments passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Bombay High Court in which it was held that bhang is not covered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act).
In this regard, the Bench observed, “Until the receipt of forensic science lab report, in order to confirm that this bhang is prepared out of the by the charas or ganja, the Court cannot come to any conclusion that the bhang is prepared out of the substance of ganja.
Therefore, at present, I am agreeing with the judgments of the Bombay High Court as well as Punjab and Haryana High Court in the above said decisions that bhang is not covered under the NDPS Act.”
Rohan Kumar Mishra, the accused was arrested by the police for having 400 grams of ganja in his possession. The police had also seized 29 kg of bhang from the accused.
The special court under the NDPS Act had rejected his bail plea and thus, the accused had approached the Karnataka High Court.
The accused argued that the he was in possession of 400 grams of ganja which was less than the “small quantity” prescribed in the NDPS Act.
The State’s argument that according to the definition 2(iii)(c) of NDPS Act, bhang is prepared out of the ganja or ganja leaves was rejected by the Court.
It was further noted by the single-judge that, Bhang is considered to be a traditional drink in India, which is mostly consumed during the Holi festival. Also, most people in North India, especially near the Shiva temples, consume bhang and thus, it is available as lassi in shops like all other drinks.
While referring to Section 2(iii)(a) and (b) of the NDPS Act pertaining to usage of charas and ganja the bench observed,
“There is no scientific evidence before this Court to show that the Bhang is prepared out of either charas or ganja or ganja leaves. Since ganja leaves and seeds are excluded from the definition of ganja and nowhere in the NDPS Act the bhang is referred as a prohibited drink or prohibited drug.”
It was also found that the State government has not made any rules mentioning bhang as a prohibited drink or prohibited drug under the NDPS Act or issued any notifications regarding the same.
The Court granted bail to the accused subject to execution of a personal bond of Rs. 2 lakh, with two sureties of the said amount.
Advocate S Manoj Kumar was representing the petitioner whereas Advocate RD Renukaradhya was representing the State.
