HC dismisses bail petitions of accused facing charges of being in possession of commercial quantity of contraband
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed a batch of petitions seeking bail filed by accused who have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody for the offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Justice B. Pugalendhi observed that Article 47 of the Constitution mandates that the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of consumption, except for medicinal purposes, of intoxicating drinks and drugs which are injurious to health.
This principle of preventing the use of drugs, except for medicinal use, was adopted in three international conventions: Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961; Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971; and the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988. India has signed and ratified the three conventions, the court observed.
The court observed that the NDPS Act was framed taking into account India’s obligations under the three UN Conventions as well as Article 47 of the Constitution. This Act prohibits, except for medical or scientific purposes, the manufacture, production, trade, use, etc., of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as limits the use of narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes. The Act views drug offences very seriously and prescribes stiff penalties.
The petitioners were facing charges that they were in possession of a huge quantity of contraband, that is, commercial quantity. The court observed that if it is established that the contraband were recovered from multiple accused in a single case / in the course of same transaction, it cannot be split up individually and the entire contraband seized from one or several accused in a single case have to be taken into consideration for determining whether the quantity seized is commercial quantity or not.
In all these cases, the accused were arrested and police recovered a commercial quantity of contraband from them. Therefore, it is an offence of commercial quantity, the court observed and dismissed the petitions seeking bail.
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