A magistrate court on 23rd November granted bail to comedienne Bharti Singh and her actor-husband Harsh Limbachiya, who were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on 21st November and then sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Around 86.5 gms. of ganja was found in raids on their house and office. The court found no justifiable ground to deny them bail.
The strange part is that neither the NCB nor the public prosecutor representing the investigating agency appeared before the court to oppose the bail pleas or make submissions on them. The NCB did not even submit replies on the bail pleas. The lawyers of the husband-wife duo submitted that the quantity recovered qualified as “small quantity” under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. They said that the couple was not accused of peddling drugs but had purchased drugs for personal consumption. They added that the NDPS Act had been amended in 2001, and the object and reason of the amendment was that bail should be granted to persons who are consumers and involved in small quantities.