Hydroponic Weed Is Ganja, Commercial Limit 20 kg: Orissa High Court Grants Bail Over 3.990 kg

The petitioner sought bail under Section 483 BNSS in a Customs case, TR Case No. 23 of 2025 before the District & Sessions Judge, Bhubaneswar, under Sections 20(b)(ii)(C)/23/29 of the NDPS Act, on the main allegation of possessing 3.990 kg of hydroponic weed/marijuana (ganja) (para 1). The inventory records eight packets of dried flower/plant-like substance (para 4). Charges were framed by an order of 22.04.2025 (paras 4, 6). The Union of India's counsel submitted that the article fell under serial No. 150 of the notification's schedule, being tetrahydrocannabinol, so that over 50 grams is commercial quantity; the petitioner said it belonged to the cannabis group, with a 20 kg limit (para 3).

G. Satapathy J. noted that marijuana is not defined anywhere in the NDPS Act, but the Chambers and Oxford dictionaries describe it as the dried flowers of the cannabis plant, also known as ganja, and the prosecution papers themselves describe the article as marijuana (ganja) (para 3). Section 2(iii)(b) defines ganja as the flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant, by whatever name known or designated; the seized packets held dried flower/plant-like substance, so whatever the drug is called, it is cannabis if it is those tops (paras 3-4). No material showed that the quantity seized was commercial, and the notification's schedule does not list marijuana as an item (para 5). Prima facie the article was marijuana (ganja); whether called hydro-ganja, hydroponic weed or high-grade ganja, it is a cannabis product and, under Section 2(iii)(b), ganja, with a commercial limit of 20 kg (para 5). The 3.990 kg seized is intermediate quantity, so the Section 37 embargo is not attracted (para 5). The record also showed the petitioner as a carrier, not the main accused, in custody since 14.01.2025, with charges framed, witnesses yet to be examined and no reported antecedents of a similar nature (paras 6-7).