The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985

What it does

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (Act No. 61 of 1985) is the main criminal statute on drugs in India. It was enacted to meet India's obligations under the international drug control conventions. It prohibits the cultivation of certain plants, and the production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, import, export and use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, except for medical or scientific purposes and in the manner and to the extent the Act and the rules under it provide.

The punishment depends on the substance and on the quantity. The Act grades quantities into small, intermediate and commercial, and the sentence rises with each grade. A commercial quantity brings a minimum term of rigorous imprisonment of ten years. Possession of a small quantity for personal consumption is dealt with more leniently, and the Act contains a provision, section 64A, giving immunity from prosecution to an addict charged under section 27 or with a small quantity offence who voluntarily undergoes de-addiction treatment at a hospital or institution maintained or recognised by the Government or a local authority.

Who it binds

It binds everyone. A person in possession of a controlled substance, one who transports or sells it, one who finances or abets such activity, and the owner or occupier of premises used for it, are all within it. It also binds the officers who enforce it: the powers of search, seizure and arrest that the Act gives are conditioned by procedural safeguards, and the courts hold officers to them.

What has changed, and when

• The grading of punishments by quantity was introduced by an amendment in 2001, which separated small and commercial quantities.
• The Act was amended again in 2014, mainly to deal with essential narcotic drugs used in medicine.
• The criminal procedure code that the Act refers to for matters of procedure, such as arrest and bail, has been replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024. The site's page on that Sanhita explains how pending matters are treated.

What turns on it in practice

The point that decides most applications is bail. Section 37 applies to offences involving a commercial quantity and to certain other offences, and provides that bail may not be granted unless the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty and is not likely to commit an offence while on bail. The site's criminal litigation work notes that this puts a heavy burden on the accused at the bail stage, and compares it with the twin conditions in the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002.

The second point is procedure. The Supreme Court has read the search and seizure provisions strictly. Section 50 gives a person about to be searched the right to be taken before a gazetted officer or a magistrate, and section 42 governs entry and search of premises, and non-compliance can weaken the prosecution's case. The site's note records these as defences to be checked in every matter.

The third is the quantity. Whether a seizure is small, intermediate or commercial quantity is a question of the weight of the substance, or the proportion of the pure drug in a mixture, and expert and laboratory evidence is often contested. It decides the bracket of punishment and whether section 37 applies at all.

The fourth is the line between a consumer and a trafficker, which the courts have asked the prosecution to establish with evidence and not by assumption. The accused's knowledge of the presence of the substance, or conscious possession, is a recurring question. The site's note on criminal and sensitive litigation covers these themes, among bail, economic offences and the new codes.