[Sushant Singh Rajput case] Bombay High Court holds that weight of paper key to calculate LSD weight

The Bombay High Court on Monday held that the weight of blotter paper forms an integral part and ought to be included while weighing Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) for prosecution under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act (Narcotics Control Bureau v. Anuj Keshwani). .The order was passed by Justice Revati Mohite Dere in an appeal filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) assailing an order of the Special NDPS Court, Mumbai in an application filed by Anuj Keshwani, accused in the drug case related to the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.."Having regard to the dictum of the Apex Court in Hira Singh, and the legislative intent of the NDPS Act, the blotter paper impregnated or ingested with LSD will have to be considered as a whole, whilst determining whether the quantity is a small or commercial quantity." Justice Dere held..Justice Dere noted in her 58-page order that blotter paper is made out of an extra-absorbent material and generally includes ingredients such as rice, cotton and even flax seed, thus, making it edible as a mixture for consumption. "It is thus evident, that a blotter paper, a carrier material, ingested with LSD, forms an integral part of the ingestion by the user of the drug and thus, constitutes preparation of the psychotropic substance i.e. LSD, which is capable of being consumed, and as such, forms a substance in a dosage form or a mixture." Justice Dere added. .The Court clarified that the orders passed by a single-judge of this High Court were not binding as they had not considered the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Hira Singh v. Union of India.Based on that judgement, Justice Dere concluded that "weight of the blotter paper containing LSD will have to be considered i.e. actual weight, for the purpose of determining small or commercial quantity of the offending drug.".The Special Court had directed the NCB to send the sample in Keshwani's case to the FSL in Gandhinagar, Gujarat to ascertain the weight of purported LSD drugs sans the blot paper and whether the weight of the sample included the weight of the paper..As per an FSL report mentioned in the chargesheet, the weight of the LSD sample was 0.62 gram. The commercial quantity for LSD as per NDPS Act is 0.1 gram.The report was silent about whether the weight of the LSD drops includes the weight of the blot paper along with the LSD drops..The High Court however deduced that it is necessary to send the samples again to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for testing. "The FSL report is not clear, as to whether the FSL had checked every blotting paper for LSD or not, or, whether only one sample test was done and thereafter, the weight of all the blot papers, was taken into consideration" the Court noted in its order. .In light of this observation, Justice Dere was of the opinion that the FSL ought to have conducted an individual test of every blot paper, to ascertain whether it has LSD on it.Hence it was deemed in the interest of justice to direct the Investigating Officer, NCB, to send the sample to the FSL, Gujarat for ascertaining whether each of the blotter paper contains LSD.The FSL Director was directed to comply with the order and submit the report within 6 weeks to the Trial Court. .Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh with Advocates Aditya Thakkar, Advait Sethna, Shreeram Shirsat, Smita Thakur, Pranav Thacker and Amandeep Singh Sra appeared for NCB. Advocates Rizwan Merchant, Taraq Sayed, Gayatri Gokhale and Zainba Abdi appeared for Keshwani..[Read order]