NDPS quantity is assessed on the whole mixture, and codeine cough syrups may remain regulated under the Act.

For NDPS purposes, the quantity of a seized mixture is determined on the substance as a whole, and the neutral material is not excluded when assessing small, commercial, or intermediate quantity. Note 4 of Notification S.O. 1055(E), as amended, applies to manufactured drugs falling within the Act, even where the narcotic content is minuscule. Codeine-based cough syrups do not automatically fall outside the NDPS regime merely because they are medicinal preparations; where they satisfy the statutory definition and the Rule 52A framework for essential narcotic drugs, they remain regulated under the NDPS Act and NDPS Rules.

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Issues: (i) Whether, in cases concerning manufactured drugs containing a miniscule percentage of narcotic substance, the weight of the neutral substance is to be ignored while determining small, commercial, or intermediate quantity. (ii) Whether Note 4 of Notification No. S.O. 1055(E) dated 19.10.2001, as amended by Notification No. S.O. 2941(E) dated 18.11.2009, is inapplicable to manufactured drugs containing a miniscule percentage of narcotic drug. (iii) Whether cough syrups containing a miniscule percentage of codeine, being medicinal preparations, fall outside the NDPS regime or are governed by the NDPS Act and the NDPS Rules.

Issue (i): Whether, in cases concerning manufactured drugs containing a miniscule percentage of narcotic substance, the weight of the neutral substance is to be ignored while determining small, commercial, or intermediate quantity.

Analysis: The governing principle is that, once a contraband substance falls within the NDPS Act, the entire mixture is to be considered and the neutral substance is not to be excluded for the purpose of determining quantity. The presence of a low percentage of narcotic substance does not permit dissection of the mixture by isolating only the offending ingredient when the statute and notification operate on the seized substance as a whole.

Conclusion: The weight of the neutral substance is not to be ignored.

Issue (ii): Whether Note 4 of Notification No. S.O. 1055(E) dated 19.10.2001, as amended by Notification No. S.O. 2941(E) dated 18.11.2009, is inapplicable to manufactured drugs containing a miniscule percentage of narcotic drug.

Analysis: The notification, read with the statutory scheme of the NDPS Act, applies where the recovered substance falls within the definition of manufactured drug. The amended note governing mixtures applies to the whole substance, and there is no carve-out merely because the narcotic content is small. If the seized article is a manufactured drug under the Act, the notification and its note continue to govern quantity determination.

Conclusion: Note 4 is applicable to manufactured drugs falling within the NDPS Act.

Issue (iii): Whether cough syrups containing a miniscule percentage of codeine, being medicinal preparations, fall outside the NDPS regime or are governed by the NDPS Act and the NDPS Rules.

Analysis: The statutory scheme distinguishes between preparations that are excluded from the definition of manufactured drug and those that are regulated as essential narcotic drugs. Entry 35 and the later rule-based framework under Rule 52A show that codeine-based preparations can still be regulated under the NDPS Act if they fall within the relevant description. Rule 52A, framed under Section 9(1)(a)(va), specifically regulates possession and related dealings in essential narcotic drugs, and contravention attracts the NDPS Act. Rule 66, being directed to psychotropic substances, does not govern codeine. Accordingly, the mere fact that a cough syrup contains codeine in a medicinal formulation does not automatically place it outside the NDPS regime.

Conclusion: Such cough syrups are governed by the NDPS Act and the NDPS Rules where they fall within Rule 52A and the statutory definition.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered by affirming that quantity under the NDPS framework is determined on the seized substance as a whole, and codeine-based cough syrup may attract NDPS liability where it falls within the relevant statutory and rule-based description; the matter was then left for consideration of bail by the appropriate bench.

Ratio Decidendi: For NDPS purposes, a mixture or preparation falling within the Act must be assessed as a whole, and codeine-based medicinal preparations remain subject to NDPS control when they satisfy the statutory and rule-based conditions governing manufactured drugs or essential narcotic drugs.

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