The Patna High Court has criticised the Bihar Police for routinely registering cases under the stringent Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act when cough syrups containing codeine are seized, saying such cases should be dealt with under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act instead, Bar and Bench reported on Wednesday, October 21.

Justice Ashok Kumar Pandey made the observation in an order dated October 1 while granting bail to Bharat Kumar in the case Bharat Kumar v. State of Bihar. Kumar was arrested in May 2026 after 484 litres of codeine-based cough syrup were recovered from a pick-up van in Khagaria district, Bar and Bench reported. The Bar Bulletin, in a separate report published on October 21, said Kumar had been in custody since May 16, 2026, and that the case was registered under Sections 8(c), 21(c) and 29 of the NDPS Act.

According to both reports, the court relied on Entry 35 of the Central government's notification S.O. 826(E) dated November 14, 1985, under which codeine preparations containing not more than 100 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit, with a concentration not exceeding 2.5 per cent and established in therapeutic practice, are excluded from the definition of manufactured drugs under the NDPS Act. The court noted that where the preparation itself does not qualify as a narcotic drug, the question of whether the seized quantity is of commercial quantity does not arise.

Bar and Bench reported that Kumar's counsel argued that nothing was recovered from his possession, that he was merely standing near the vehicle, that he had no criminal antecedents and that a similarly placed co-accused had already been granted bail. The State opposed bail, relying on the Supreme Court's judgment in Hira Singh v. Union of India on how the weight of a mixture is to be counted. The court proceeded to grant Kumar bail, Advocate Vijay Kishore Bharti appeared for the applicant and Additional Public Prosecutor Surendra Prasad Singh for the State, the report said.

In its closing observation, quoted by Bar and Bench, the court called it 'very strange' that police invariably file NDPS cases where codeine cough syrup is recovered even though, under the Central notification, a concentration of less than 2.5 per cent does not come within the ambit of contraband. The court described such syrup as a Schedule H drug, for which the seller must be licensed and must maintain a register, The Bar Bulletin reported.