Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985
Also known as NDPS Act.
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The Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur granted bail to two men implicated with the aid of Section 29 of the NDPS Act after 167.02 grams of 'MD' was recovered from a co-accused motorcyclist (paras 3, 7, 10). Prima facie, there was no connecting evidence: no call details, no recovery from them, no naming by those on the motorcycle, and only a UPI payment, its purpose never investigated, into a third person's account (para 7). Section 37 was held satisfied (para 8).
The Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur refused a second bail plea over 7 kg 96 g of opium milk, a pistol and five cartridges allegedly recovered from a car at night (paras 7, 17, 19). The seizure officer's evidence showed that the tip-off, received after sunset, was written down and sent to superior officers, with reasons recorded for searching without a warrant (para 11). Following the Supreme Court, a speedy-trial plea could not dilute Section 37 (para 15).
The Supreme Court has granted bail to three accused, in custody since 24.02.2026, in a Chhattisgarh NDPS case with eight accused and 137 kilograms of contraband seized. It extended to them the benefit of its order of 16.09.2026 granting bail to a co-accused, which had noted that the contraband was not apportioned between the accused although the commercial quantity of ganja is twenty kilograms or more. The High Court's refusal of bail was set aside (paras 6, 8-11).
The Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur granted bail to the owner of a firm supplying scientific apparatus, accused in a CBN case over 2.021 kg of MD recovered from a co-accused (paras 2, 8, 12). Prima facie, his alleged role was confined to supplying scientific apparatus in the course of his business, his bona fides could not be ruled out, and nothing was recovered from him (para 10). For the limited purpose of bail, the Court held the Section 37 twin conditions satisfied (para 11).
The Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur granted bail to two men accused in a case over 379.230 kg of poppy straw, a commercial quantity seized from two co-accused (paras 5, 8). Prima facie, nothing apart from the co-accused's statements connected them with the contraband: no call detail records or location details were collected, and nothing was recovered from them (paras 5-6). For the limited purpose of bail, the Court held the twin conditions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act satisfied (para 6).
The Supreme Court granted bail to a hotel owner in jail since 21.12.2023 in a Gujarat NDPS case in which the main accused was found with a commercial quantity of contraband in one of the hotel's rooms. Though his earlier special leave petition had been dismissed, the Court entertained a fresh one after the hotel's manager got bail, and released him as nothing was recovered from him and he had no criminal antecedents (paras 1-3).
The Supreme Court granted bail to a man accused under Section 21(c) of the NDPS Act after police allegedly recovered 1,200 alprazolam tablets from him in Durg, Chhattisgarh, a quantity the prosecution calls commercial (paras 3-4). In a brief order, the Court relied on his lack of criminal antecedents, the filing of the chargesheet, the trial being in progress and his custody since 01.02.2025 (para 7). It set aside the High Court's order and allowed his appeal.
The Rajasthan High Court granted bail to a medical-store owner charged by the Narcotics Control Bureau under Section 8/22(c) of the NDPS Act over psychotropic tablets. Holding that Section 37 is not an absolute embargo, it found that more than twenty months in custody with no likely early end to the trial violated the right to a speedy trial under Article 21, so conditional liberty must prevail (paras 1, 8-11).
The Supreme Court granted bail to a man held for almost a year in a 100 kg ganja case in Malkangiri, Odisha, because his arrest memo stated only that he was involved in the case. Merely saying so does not meet the requirement of Article 22(1) of the Constitution, the Court held, setting aside the Orissa High Court's refusal of bail (paras 10-12).
The Supreme Court suspended the 12-year sentence of a 28-year-old truck driver convicted over 204 kg of ganja seized by the Narcotics Control Bureau, pending his appeal before the Jharkhand High Court. He had been in custody for over four years and four months; the Court acted on a prima facie consideration and left bail conditions to the trial court (paras 1-5).
The Karnataka High Court has refused regular bail to a man accused of bringing hydroponic ganja into Bengaluru from Bangkok, with 16.360 kg of a 26.230 kg seizure from three passengers attributed to him (paras 3, 6). Applying its order of 17.08.2026 in Crl.P No. 9787/2026, the Court held that the higher THC content, value and social harm of hydroponic ganja must weigh with courts, and that an intermediate quantity is not by itself a ground for bail (paras 6-7).
The Supreme Court quashed the arraignment of a college student in an NDPS case over a packet of marijuana allegedly handed to her by two sellers near her college. Nothing was recovered from her, the case rested on confessions that cannot be relied on, and a user last in the chain of supply is in one way a victim; the focus must be on breaking supply, not punishing users (paras 3-8).