Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: February 17, 2022 at 16:16 IST
The Supreme Court observed that the quantity of neutral substances shall not be excluded and is to be taken into consideration with the actual content of the weight of the offending drug while determining small and commercial quantities.
The Bench consisted of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh.
The Court was dealing with Appeals against a Himachal Pradesh High Court Judgment passed in 2018 wherein it had observed and followed the Supreme Court’s view in E Micheal Raj v Narcotic Control Bureau (2008).
In the E Micheal Raj Case, it was viewed that in the mixture of psychotropic substances or narcotic drugs with one or more neutral substances, the quantity of neutral substances shall not be considered while determining the small or commercial quantity of offending drug, but only the actual content of weight of offending drug which is relevant for determining small quantity or commercial quantity shall be considered.
The punishment for contravening the provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 based on ‘quantity’ is prescribed under Section 21 of the Act.
When the contravention involves small quantities, the punishment is rigorous imprisonment for a term extending up to 1 year, or fine extending up to Rs 10,000, or both.
When the contravention involves quantity lesser than commercial quantity but greater than small quantity, the punishment is rigorous imprisonment extending up to 10 years, and fine extending up to Rs 1 lakh.
When the contravention involves commercial quantity, the punishment is rigorous imprisonment for not less than 10 years and extending up to 20 years and fine not less than Rs 1 lakh and extending up to Rs 2 lakhs.
The Bench noted that the view taken in E Micheal Raj was held to be not a good law by a larger Bench in Hira Singh and Anr v Union of India and Anr (2020).
It was held, “In case of seizure of mixture of Narcotic Drugs or Psychotropic Substances with one or more neutral substance(s), the quantity of neutral substance(s) is not be excluded and to be taken consideration along with actual content by weight of the offending drug, while determining the ‘small or commercial quantity’ of the Narcotic Drugs or Psychotropic Substances.”
Therefore, the Bench remitted the matter to the High Court for consideration of the Appeal on merits, noting that the High Court passed its Judgment based on the view taken in E Micheal Raj.