The High Court of Karnataka has ruled that 'bhang' is not declared a prohibited drug or drink under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, & granted bail to a man who was arrested in the city for possessing 29 kilograms of the concoction.
On June 1, the Begur Police arrested Roshan Kumar Mishra, a native of Bihar & recovered branded 'bhang' along with 400 gm of ganja from him.
Roshan Mishra's bail plea was rejected by a Lower Court after which he approached the Karnataka High Court, & was granted bail by Justice K Natarajan.
The HC said, "There is no scientific evidence before this court to show that Bhang is prepared out of either charas or ganja or ganja leaves." Under the NDPS Act, ganja leaves & seeds are also excluded from the definition of ganja & "nowhere in the NDPS Act is bhang referred as a prohibited drink or prohibited drug". it said.
Roshan Mishra's lawyer, S Manoj Kumar, argued that "bhang is a drink normally sold in the lassi shops in north India. It is not a prohibitory drug. The said drink is used during the Shivarathri festival & it is not a banned drink & does not fall under the NDPS Act."
However, the Govt Lawyer contended that bhang was prepared out of ganja leaves & therefore it comes under the definition of ganja.
The High Court referred to 2 earlier judgments -- Madhukar versus State of Maharashtra & Arjun Singh vs State of Haryana. In both cases, it was held that bhang was not ganja & did not come under the NDPS Act.
The HC, in its judgement, said that till the forensic science laboratory gives its report, it cannot confirm that bhang is prepared out of charas or ganja. Since Mishra was under custody since arrest, he was therefore eligible for bail.
Mishra also had 400 grams of ganja on him when arrested. Since it was a small quantity, he was eligible for bail. He was directed to execute a personal bond of ₹ 2 lakh as bail condition.
"It is worth to mention that bhang is a traditional drink, most of the people used to drink in north India especially near the Shiva temples & it is also available in lassi shops like all other drinks. That apart, the said bhang was sold in the market with branded names," the HC noted in its judgement.
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