Citing that bhang is not a prohibited drink under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Karnataka High Court has granted bail to an accused from Bihar.
"There is no scientific evidence before this court to show that bhang is prepared out of charas or ganja or ganja leaves. Ganja leaves and seeds are excluded from the definition of ganja, and nowhere in the NDPS Act is bhang referred to as a prohibited drink or prohibited drug.
Even the state government has not made any rules under the NDPS Act and mentioned bhang as a prohibitory drug or issued any notifications (on bhang)," Justice K Natarajan has noted in his order, granting bail to Roshan Kumar Mishra, 23, from Madhubani.
The judge pointed out that Bombay High Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court have also held that bhang is not covered under NDPS Act.
The Begur police had arrested Roshan Kumar Mishra, a native of Bihar, on June 1 and recovered branded 'bhang' along with 400 grams of ganja from him. Mishra's bail petition was rejected by a lower court after which he approached the High Court, and was granted bail by Justice K Natarajan recently.
Mishra's advocate, 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 and it is not a banned drink and does not fall under the NDPS Act."
The government advocate, however, contended that bhang was prepared out of ganja leaves and therefore it comes under the definition of ganja.
The HC referred to two earlier judgements -- Madhukar versus State of Maharashtra and Arjun Singh vs State of Haryana.
In both the cases, it was held that bhang was not ganja and 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 Rs 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 and 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 High Court noted in its judgement.
