NDPS Act | Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Plea Against Judgment That Total Weight Of Mixture Determines Contraband Quantity
The Supreme Court today(September 1) issued notice in a writ petition challenging the correctness of its 2020 judgment in Hira Singh v. Union of India, which upheld the Central Government Notification dated 18.11.2009 issued under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 ("NDPS Act"), which says small, intermediate and commercial quatities under the NDPS Act will be determined with reference to the total weight of the mixture seized, rather than the price weight of the offending drug within the mixture.
The 2009 notification says: "The quantities shown in Column 5 and Column 6 of the Table relating to the respective drugs shown in Column 2 shall apply to the entire mixture or any solution or any one or more narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances of that particular drug in dosage form or isomers, esters, ethers, and salts of these drugs, including salts of esters, ethers and isomers, wherever existence of such substance is possible and not just its Pure drug content ."
A bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice NK Singh issued notice.
In 2020, the Hira Singh's judgment was passed by a three-judge bench comprising former judges, Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M R Shah, which held that the quantity of neutral substances in a mixture containing narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances must be taken into account along with the actual weight of the offending drug while determining 'small or commercial quantity' under the NDPS Act.
The present petition has been filed by an accused facing trial for offences under Sections 18(b) and 23(c) of the NDPS Act on allegations of unlawful export of Opium.
In Hira Singh, the 3-judge bench overruled the 2008 decision E. Micheal Raj v. Intelligence Officer, Narcotic Control Bureau, which had held that only the actual weight of the drug in a mixture will matter under the NDPS Act, and that the weight of the neutral substances can be excluded. The three-judge bench held that the quantity of neutral substances in a mixture containing narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances must be taken into account along with the actual weight of the offending drug while determining 'small or commercial quantity' under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
Case Details: MAYANK GIRISHBHAI SHAH v. UOI, Writ Petition 816/2025
Appearances: Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, assisted by Advocates Shrutanjaya Bhardwaj, Yash Tayal and Yashi Bajpai, who drafted the writ petition. The petition is filed through Advocate on Record Nupur Kumar.