Shivangi Prakash-
Published on August 07, 2021, 15:49 IST
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that anyone in possession of cough syrup or medicine containing narcotic substances without prescription will be subject to harsh penalties under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
In the present case, narcotic cough syrup was discovered without a prescription or any other legitimate document. Justice Rajeev Kumar Dubey denied bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985, citing precedent established by the Supreme Court.
According to the prosecution, the applicant and his co-accused were caught, and 30 100ml bottles of Onerex Cough Syrup having codeine phosphate, a narcotic substance, were seized from their shared possession.
Following that, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed under Sections 8, 21, 22 of the NDPS Act, as well as Sections 5 and 13 of the Madhya Pradesh Drug Control Act, 1951.
Advocate Vijay Chandra Rai who was appearing on behalf of the applicants argued that the applicants have no criminal history and have been falsely accused in the case.
Rai told the Court that the petitioners have been in custody since April 2021, that the charge-sheet has been filed, and that the trial is expected to take a long time to complete.
The Court while rejecting bail plea cited the case of State of Punjab v. Rakesh Kumar (2018), in which the Supreme Court decided that trafficking in narcotic medicines and psychotropic substances is only legal if it is done for medicinal or scientific purposes.
The mere fact that narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances are being traded for medicinal or scientific purposes does not, however, remove the Act’s Section 8(c) prohibition.
According to the Supreme Court, “Such a dealing must be in the manner and extent provided by the provision of the Act, rules or orders made there under. Sections 9 and 10 enable the Central and the State Governments respectively to make rules permitting and regulating various aspects (contemplated under Section 8(c), of dealing in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances).”
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Also Read: What is Narcotics Control Bureau and it’s Role and Functions?