Hydroponic Weed Below Commercial Quantity: Rajasthan High Court Refuses Bail Over Potency and Market Value

The applicant was arrested on a complaint by the Superintendent, AIU Customs, under Sections 8(c), 20(b)(ii)(C), 23 and 29 of the NDPS Act and sought bail under Section 483 BNSS (para 4). His counsel said he had been in custody since 21.09.2025; the 11.410 kg recovered was ganja, as the CRCL report confirmed, below the 20 kg commercial quantity; the charge-sheet was filed; and market value is irrelevant under the NDPS Act (para 5). The Special Public Prosecutor and the Commissioner of Customs said the concealed Hydroponic Weed was worth about Rs 11.50 crore, with about 25% THC against 2% in ordinary ganja (subject to the awaited CRCL report), and that investigation into a possible racket continued (para 6).

The Court first asked why, in a case of alleged Hydroponic Weed brought from Bangkok through an international airport, a customs area under Section 2(11), the agency had not invoked Sections 11, 77, 111, 113, 118, 119 and 123 of the Customs Act, and called the Commissioner of Customs and the seizing officers (para 1). It was apprised that the NDPS Act, a special statute, has overriding effect under Section 80, and that customs officers, as empowered officers under Sections 42 and 53, follow the NDPS procedure and refer the matter for investigation (para 2). Accepting the Commissioner’s explanation, the Court held that non-invocation of specific Customs Act provisions does not per se vitiate the investigation, so long as NDPS procedural rigour is followed (para 3). On bail, it noted the Hydroponic Weed found in the applicant’s possession, its market value of about Rs 11.50 crore, its THC content of about 25% against 2% in ordinary ganja, and the ongoing investigation (para 7). Relying on Karan Mehra, on Supreme Court rulings that economic offences, committed with cool calculation, call for an iron hand, and on R. Vasanthi Stanley, it declined bail without commenting on the merits (para 7).