Mumbai: Court rejects bail plea of youngsters caught with contraband, says ‘mere tender age’ not deciding factor

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had arrested the two, a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man, and seized 35 gram marijuana and 830 gram brownie cake made of marijuana from their premises in Malad in June.

“I am of the opinion that the mere tender age of the applicants/accused cannot be a deciding factor while considering the bail application and sympathetic approach cannot be taken in cases where gravity of the matter appears to be more,” the court said in its detailed order made available Tuesday. Their pleas were rejected on August 17.

The NCB through its special public prosecutor Advait Sethna had opposed their bail pleas claiming that it was a “peculiar” case where the two accused were involved in sale of weed brownie cakes “for earning their livelihood and for making quick money”. It was claimed that these were made at their residence and sold through social media.

It was also alleged that the sale of brownie cakes with weed has been on a rise in Mumbai with youngsters getting involved in it. The prosecutor said that such activities are required to be “nipped in the bud” as they could have serious ramifications in society.

Lawyer Taraq Sayyed representing the two said the quantity claimed to have been seized was “small” as per the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and hence its stringent sections could not be invoked in the case. The NCB, however, said that a commercial quantity of LSD was recovered from their alleged supplier, which cannot be overlooked.

The court relied on a forensic report submitted by the NCB claiming that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive constituent of cannabis, was found in the seized cake. “…the report (is) positive and therefore, I am of the prima facie view that the gravity of the matter is much more than what is reflected from the small quantity of the ganja contraband recovered from them,” the court said.