IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.20761 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-40 Year-2026 Thana- ALAMGANJ District- Patna ====================================================== Sonu Kumar Son of Shailesh Rai @ Shailesh Ram @ Kaushlendra Kumar R/o Gudki Mandi, Afrabad Nahar Alamganj, P.S. - Alamganj, Dist. - Patna. ... ... Petitioner/s Versus The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Sunil Kumar Singh, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Ramesh Chandra, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHOK KUMAR PANDEY ORAL ORDER 2 02-04-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned APP for the State. 2. The petitioner has prayed for bail in connection with Alamganj P.S. Case No. 40 of 2026 registered for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act. 3. The case of the prosecution, in short, is that from a tempo, altogether 791 liters of Wiscorex and Chefax-TC cough syrup containing codeine were recovered. 4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has submitted that petitioner is innocent and has committed no offence. He has been falsely implicated in this case. He also submits that the petitioner is neither owner nor driver of the Auto rather he was merely a passenger in that auto. Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.20761 of 2026(2) dt.02-04-2026 2/4 He further submits that nothing has been recovered from the possession of the petitioner. The petitioner is merely a cousin brother of the driver. The witnesses of the seizure list are police personnel and the police has not complied with Section 105 of the BNSS while making the seizure. Moreover, a statement has been made in para 3 of the petition that petitioner has no criminal antecedent and he is languishing in judicial custody since 14.01.2026. 5. Learned counsel for the petitioner has further submitted that under Notification No. S.O. 826(E) dated 14.11.1985 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and Rules, 1985 that preparations are exempted as manufactured drugs provided the preparations contained the narcotic drugs to the extent permitted in respect of codeine under Entry No. 35. It is stated that codeine and ethyle morphine and their salts including dionine all dilutions and preparations are considered to be manufactured drugs except those which are compounded with one or more other ingredients and containing not more than 100 miligrams of the drugs per doses unit and with a concentration of not more than 2.5 % in undivided preparations and which have been established in therapeutic practice. Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.20761 of 2026(2) dt.02-04-2026 3/4 6. In this case, Wiscorex and Chefax-TC cough syrup containing codeine were recovered from a Tempo and the concentration of the codeine in this drug is approximately 0.2% which is less than 2.5% as provided in the above notification. 7. Learned APP appearing for the State has vehemently the application for bail and has submitted that in the case of Hira Singh and Anr. V. Union of India and Anr., the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that entire non-toxic material which is mixed with the contraband will be considered as the contraband and as such, the quantity which has been recovered from the possession of the petitioner is commercial quantity. 8. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that in view of Section 2(d) of the N.D.P.S. Act, the drug itself is not narcotic drug then there is no jurisdictional basis for the case and the Court would not have a reason to go into the question of quantities. The Central Government has power to issue notification time to time. 9. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and considering the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is inclined to enlarge the petitioner on bail. The above named petitioner is directed to be enlarged on bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 10,000/- (Rs. ten thousand only) with two sureties Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.20761 of 2026(2) dt.02-04-2026 4/4 of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned Special Judge, Exclusive Special Court of Excise, Patna City, Patna in connection with Alamganj P.S. Case No. 40 of 2026. 10. Before parting, it is very strange that the cases where cough syrups containing codeine are recovered, the police is invariably filing cases under N.D.P.S. Act whereas in view of the notification of Central Government (supra) concentration of codeine being less than 2.5 %, the quantity does not come under the ambit of contraband. Cough syrup containing codeine is only a Schedule-H drug for which, the shopkeeper has to maintain register and he must be a licensed one. Such type of cases should be filed under Drugs and Cosmetic Act. It is only the violation of Drugs and Cosmetic Act whereas, police is invariably misusing the procedure. Sudhanshu/- (Ashok Kumar Pandey, J) U T