KOCHI: Mushrooms and magic mushrooms are neither scheduled narcotic or psychotropic substances nor mixtures as defined under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act but merely fungi, Kerala High Court (HC) has noted while granting bail to a Bengaluru man in an NDPS case.
The petitioner, Rahul Rai, was arrested by Mananthavady excise officials from Thrissilery on Oct 4 with 6.59g charas, 13.2g ganja, 226g of psilocybin-containing magic mushrooms, and 50g of psilocybin-containing magic mushroom capsules.
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While considering his bail plea, Justice P V Kunhikrishnan noted that the charas and ganja seized were in small quantities, making Rai eligible for bail. However, the total quantity of psilocybin-containing magic mushrooms and capsules seized amounted to 276g. Rai’s counsel argued that the prosecution had not separately quantified the psilocybin content in the seized magic mushrooms.
Opposing the bail plea, the public prosecutor contended that under NDPS Act, the small quantity of psilocybin is defined as 2g, while the commercial quantity is 50g. It was also argued that if a mixture of a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance with one or more neutral substances is seized, the entire mixture should be considered when determining whether it falls under ‘commercial quantity’ or ‘small quantity’.
The HC, however, referring to previous orders of Karnataka and Madras high courts, held that mushrooms and magic mushrooms are neither scheduled narcotic or psychotropic substances nor mixtures as defined under NDPS Act. The bench further stated that there was no material evidence to establish that the petitioner had a commercial quantity of psilocybin. Consequently, since the commercial quantity threshold was not met, the restrictions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act – which prevent the grant of bail – would not apply.