Codeine cough syrup quantity under NDPS law referred to larger Bench, with interim bail granted pending authoritative review.

Codeine-based cough syrup cases raised the question whether the neutral medicinal material should be included when determining small, intermediate or commercial quantity under the NDPS Act, or whether only the actual narcotic content should count. The Delhi HC noted conflicting Supreme Court approaches, distinguished pharmaceutical preparations with minimal narcotic content from ordinary illicit mixtures, and found the issue required larger Bench consideration. Pending that authoritative review, interim bail was granted for 90 days on terms.

---

---

Issues: Whether, in a case involving codeine-based cough syrup containing a miniscule percentage of narcotic substance, the neutral material must be counted for determining small, intermediate, or commercial quantity under the NDPS regime, and whether interim bail should be granted pending authoritative consideration of the issue.

Analysis: The seizure involved 110 bottles of cough syrup containing codeine phosphate, and the dispute turned on whether the total mixture or only the actual drug content should be considered for the purpose of commercial quantity and the consequent rigour of bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act. The court noted the competing approaches reflected in the earlier and later Supreme Court authorities, and contrasted ordinary illicit mixtures with pharmaceutical preparations having medicinal use and only a miniscule narcotic content. It also noted the practical difficulty of treating every such cough-syrup case at par with cases involving hard narcotics, and found that the question required consideration by a larger Bench.

Conclusion: The issue was referred for consideration by a larger Bench, and interim bail was granted to the petitioner for 90 days on terms.

---