NEWS: Madhya Pradesh HC says Possession of Cough Syrup or Medicine with Narcotic Substances without valid Documents is NDPS offence

By Legal Wires 4 Minutes Read

Madhya Pradesh High Court held that possession of cough syrup or medicine containing narcotic substances without valid documents will attract the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Rajkamal Namdev v. State of Madhya Pradesh

In this case, the applicant and co-accused were apprehended by the police and were found with possession of 30 100ml bottles of Onerex Cough Syrup that contained codeine phosphate, a narcotic substance. An FIR was registered under Sections 8, 21, 22 of the NDPS Act, and Section 5 and 13 of the Madhya Pradesh Drug Control Act, 1951.

The Advocate appearing for the applicants prayed for the grant of bail on the ground that the applicants did not have any past criminal record and have been falsely implicated in the case. Moreover, he informed the court that applicants were in custody since April 2021, the charge sheet has been filed, and the conclusion of the trial is likely to take time.

Justice Rajeev Kumar Dubey refused bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985 by placing reliance on precedents set by the apex court.
The court relied on State of Punjab v. Rakesh Kumar (2018), where the Supreme Court held that dealing in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is permissible only when such dealing is for medical purposes or scientific purposes.

In Mohd. Sahabuddin v. State of Assam (2012), where it was held that the appellant’s failure to establish that the drugs were being transported for therapeutic practice would bar them from taking the exemption of medical purposes.

In Heera Singh v. Union of India (2020), where it was held that in case of seizure of mixture of narcotic substances with one or more neutral substances, the quantity of the neutral substance is not to be excluded and to be taken into consideration along with actual content by weight of the offending drug.

Therefore, Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985 lays that offence under the statute will be cognizable and non-bailable. Hence the bail was denied by the court.

Click HERE to read the order