Hydroponic Weed Below Commercial Quantity: Rajasthan High Court Refuses Bail Citing Potency, Value and Organised Smuggling

The Superintendent, Customs, Jaipur International Airport registered Complaint No. ARPT/AIU/OFF/333/2025 under Sections 8, 20, 23 and 29 of the NDPS Act, and a charge sheet has been filed (para 1). Seeking bail under Section 483 BNSS, the petitioner said the 18.534 kg of ganja allegedly recovered was below commercial quantity, so Section 37 was not attracted; he had been in custody for a long time, had no criminal record, and the FSL report showed only ganja (paras 1-2). The Special Public Prosecutor replied that it was a potent variety grown abroad, worth about ₹18 crore, brought in below commercial quantity to avoid Section 37, possibly by a drug syndicate (para 3).

The Court accepted that bail is normally granted where the recovered quantity is intermediate and investigation is over, but held that the prosecution's concerns could not be ignored: the nature of the contraband, the sophisticated methods of import, its high value and potential links to a larger syndicate (para 5). Hydroponic weed, it said, is a specialised and highly potent form of cannabis, often grown abroad under controlled conditions to raise its THC content, and treating it as ‘only’ ganja for bail is a simplistic view (para 5). The stated value of about ₹18 crore, even below the commercial threshold, indicated potency and demand and prima facie suggested that the petitioner was not a simple user or small-time peddler but likely part of a larger trafficking operation (para 5). Importing just below the commercial threshold to circumvent Section 37 was described as a common tactic of organised syndicates, which bail would encourage (para 5). Long custody and the filing of the charge sheet did not automatically entitle the petitioner to bail; given the risk of flight or of influencing witnesses, the duration of custody is not a standalone reason for bail (para 5).