Mumbai: In the drugs case connected with late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, a special court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has directed the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to send a sample of blotting papers allegedly containing the drug LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) recovered from accused Anuj Keshwani to a forensic lab to ascertain the weight of the drug in the sample.
The court has ordered that the weight of the drug be ascertained sans the blotting paper and it be clarified whether the weight mentioned in the CA report included or excluded the blotting paper. It has also directed that the lab comply with the direction within 15 days of receiving its order.
The NCB had claimed that 0.62 gm of LSD was recovered along with other drugs such as 585 gm Charas, 270 gm Marijuana and 3.6 gm THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) in the house search of Keshwani on 6 September last year.
As per the NDPS Act, commercial quantity of LSD is considered to be 0.1 gm and small quantity 0.002 gm. In case of possession of commercial quantity of the drug, a provision of the Act comes into force that makes securing bail difficult. As per Sec 37 of the NDPS Act, the court has to be satisfied that the accused is not guilty of the offence and is not likely to commit an offence when on bail.
In December last year, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to a Thane resident and held that the weight of paper used to carry LSD drops cannot be counted while ascertaining the quantity of the contraband.
Keshwani had stated in his plea through advocate Trivankumar Karnani that 31 blotting papers were allegedly recovered from him and the report from the lab stated that presence of LSD is detected on the sample and that the weight of the sample is 0.62 gm. The plea pointed out that the report is silent on the weight of the LSD drops and contended that the weight of 0.62 gm is that of the blotting paper. The plea said the weight of the paper cannot be considered while deciding that the drug recovered amounts to commercial quantity.
Keshwani’s bail plea is pending before the court. The plea said that ascertaining the weight is important to decide his bail plea and to deal with the rigours of Sec 37 of the Act.
Advocate Karnani said the sample warrants retesting by separating the drug and the blotting paper as the latter is only a neutral carrier of the substance. He called the forensic report flawed and said that Sec 37 is wrongly invoked on Keshwani based on it.
The NCB had opposed the plea arguing that there is no provision under the law for retesting a drug sample at the instance of the accused.
