The Madras High Court has held that the penal provisions on the calculation of seized narcotics and psychotropic substances as being commercial or otherwise must be considered strictly and need not be interpreted in a way that aids the accused.

The Court was hearing an application for bail in a drugs case where psilocybin mushrooms, which are a natural produce and are commonly known as magic mushrooms, were seized. The case of the Petitioner was that the forensic report does not mention ingredients that may be present in the seized contraband besides the chemical, a factor relevant while calculating whether the contraband's quantity would count as commercial or individual.

During the course of the hearing, an expert, on being asked by the Court, informed that with magic mushrooms, each cell contains the concerned chemical. Psilocybin mushrooms are prohibited under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS), and a quantity of more than 550 gm is considered commercial.

On the interpretations of quantity stipulations in NDPS, a Single Judge Bench of Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy held, "The penal statutes (have) to be considered strictly as such (an) interpretation need not be made and further explanation need not be added to the penal provisions so as to aid the accused."

Based on the information provided by the expert, the Bench held, "If the produce is a natural produce and every cell of the same contains a chemical, then prima facie I am of the opinion that the entire material has only to be weighed and considered for the purpose of determining whether it is commercial quantity or not."

Advocates G. Karuppasamy appeared for the Petitioner-accused and Additional Public Prosecutor R.M. Anbunithi appeared for the State.

The expert submitted before the Court that it is not possible to weigh the quantity of the concerned chemical which is present in the mushroom. According to them, if the mushroom contains the particular chemical, then that will have an hallucinating effect and, therefore, would count as a psychotropic substance. The expert told the Court that with magic mushrooms, every said contains the concerned chemical.

In his defence, the accused cited a Karnataka High Court's Judgment by a Single-Bench which had held, "In the instant case the scientific report (does) not specify the percentage of presence of Psilocin and Psilocybin. In the absence of any such material on record it is no possible to accept the contention of the learned Government Pleader that the seized Magic Mushroom is a mixture."

The Bench in the present case, however, held, "Prima facie, I am not in agreement with the conclusions made by the Karnataka High Court cited." It concluded that it did not see the case fit for enlarging the Petitioner on bail.

Cause Title: Dhanaraj v. Inspector of Police, Kodaikanal Police Station [CRL OP(MD) 15148 of 2024]

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocates G. Karuppasamy and P. Senguttuarasan

Respondent: Additional Public Prosecutor R.M. Anbunithi

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Justice D. Bharatha ChakravarthyMadras High Court

Tushar Kohli