NDPS bail turns on Schedule I coverage: pentazocine was held outside the Rules' prohibition, so Section 37 did not apply.

Pentazocine, though listed as a psychotropic substance under the NDPS Act, was treated as outside the prohibitory scheme relied on by the prosecution because Rule 64 of the NDPS Rules applies only to psychotropic substances specified in Schedule I to the Rules. The applicant was associated with a duly authorised drug business, and pentazocine was described as a Schedule H medicine under the Drugs and Cosmetics regime. As pentazocine was not shown to be included in Schedule I, the statutory prohibition invoked to resist bail was not attracted. The applicant was therefore entitled to bail, and the embargo under Section 37 of the NDPS Act did not apply.

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Issues: Whether the applicant was entitled to bail on the ground that the alleged activity, involving pentazocine, was not hit by the prohibitory scheme of the NDPS Act and the NDPS Rules, so that the embargo under Section 37 of the NDPS Act would not apply.

Analysis: The applicant's case was examined on the basis that he was associated with a duly authorised drug business and that the substance involved, pentazocine, was a Schedule H medicine under the Drugs and Cosmetics regime. The decisive question was whether the NDPS Act and the NDPS Rules themselves prohibited the specific operations alleged against him. The Court noted that though pentazocine is mentioned in the Schedule to the NDPS Act as a psychotropic substance, the general prohibition under Rule 64 of the NDPS Rules operates only in respect of psychotropic substances specified in Schedule I to the Rules. Since pentazocine was not shown to be included in Schedule I, the statutory prohibition relied upon by the prosecution was not attracted on the facts presented. On that basis, the reasoning of the earlier bail matter was applied and the Court held that the alleged activity was not covered by the prohibitory measures invoked to oppose bail.

Conclusion: The applicant was entitled to bail and the embargo under Section 37 of the NDPS Act did not apply on the Court's view of the statutory scheme and the substance involved.

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