7th Arguendo UILS National Law Fest, 2024

~ Shri. G.K. Chatrath Memorial National Moot Court Competition~

University Institute Of Legal Studies,

Panjab University, Chandigarh

~presents~

7th ARGUENDO UILS NATIONAL LAW

FEST, 2024
SHRI. G.K. CHATRATH MEMORIAL
NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION

14th March-16th March 2024

(Hybrid)
 ~ Shri. G.K. Chatrath Memorial National Moot Court Competition~

7th Arguendo UILS National Law Fest, 2024

~Shri. G.K. Chatrath Memorial National Moot Court Competition~

DISCLAIMER
All characters in the above problem are fictional. Any resemblance to any person living or
dead is purely coincidental, unintentional and not intended to hurt anybody’s sentiments.

1. Hindistan is a developing country with a population of more than 1.4 billion

people. It has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of the infrastructure, and
standard of living as well as in the education and health sector. The country also
has a fully developed healthcare infrastructure, with fully equipped hospitals and
dispensaries.

2. However, many areas of the country are marred by the problem of drug abuse and
smuggling of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances. The State has made efforts
to counter this problem such as the enactment of the Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985, which is the central legislation
pertaining to the prohibition of production and distribution of drugs. Reports by
several independent organizations reveal that the production of drugs for the
purposes of sale and smuggling under the guise of medicinal benefits is on the
rise.

3. Mr. Ramesh is a resident of Binduana, Hari Pradesh. He is 40 years old and

practices as an Ayurvedic doctor. He has done his Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Ayurveda
from a local college in Binduana, affiliated to the Hari Pradesh University. He has
a firm belief in the efficacy of ayurvedic medicine and is a staunch believer in
ayurvedic medicines being more efficacious as compared to allopathic medicines.
His vast understanding in the field of medicine has been praised by many. In 2022,
he was also awarded by the State Ayurvedic Medicine Federation for his research
 ~ Shri. G.K. Chatrath Memorial National Moot Court Competition~

work in Ayurvedic medicine for cancer treatment.

4. On 2nd June 2022, Mr. Ramesh was arrested by the NDPS officers for the offence
of cultivation of bhang in the area of one hectare in his house without any licence
or authorisation from the government for the same. Ramesh contended that he
had cultivated bhang for his research on cancer treatment because the plant has
proven to be beneficial for the same. Since it is for medical purposes, he is
exempted under Section 8 of the NDPS Act. While he was in custody of the NDPS
officers, he fell severely ill and was rushed to the city hospital where he was
admitted and diagnosed with angina pain. He had unbearable pain for several
days. Even after providing him with high doses of medicines, he did not feel well,
rather dizzy and sleepy most of the time.

5. Ramesh was admitted in the hospital for 4 days. Since he was accused of an
offence, an officer of the NDPS department was placed outside the ward in which
Ramesh was admitted. Ramesh’s condition kept on worsening and he was
constantly on medicines. He was a Shiv Bhakt and kept on reciting his prayers and
ultimately went to sleep.

6. One day, he was sleeping very peacefully in his ward. The officer went to answer
the call of nature around 12:00 p.m. Suddenly, Ramesh’s wife came to meet him
in the hospital. She loved Ramesh deeply and was extremely worried. As soon as
she entered Ramesh’s ward, she started arguing with him. Upon the argument, she
said that she had warned you against growing bhang in the house but he did not
listen to her.

7. Ramesh broke down in front of her and started crying. He stated that their
financial condition had worsened over the past few years because people shifted
towards allopathic treatment rather than ayurvedic medicines. Thus, he was
looking for ways to improve their financial condition. In March 2022, he had met
someone who was a supplier of charas and ganja and he asked Ramesh to
cultivate bhang at his farm under the garb of conducting research and in return,
he would pay him a substantial amount of money to which he agreed. He had
 ~ Shri. G.K. Chatrath Memorial National Moot Court Competition~

done all this for his family. This conversation was overheard by a nurse who was
standing behind the curtains, preparing the dose to be administered to Ramesh for
his treatment.

8. The nurse, later on, informed the NDPS officer of what happened in the room.
The case was filed in the Special Court constituted under the NDPS Act, 1985 by
the authorised officer for an offence punishable under Section 20(a) of the Act.
The confession made by Ramesh to his wife in the hospital was proved in court
by the nurse, which became a ground for the conviction of the accused Ramesh.
He was held guilty and was sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment and a
fine of Rs. 5 lakhs was imposed.

9. An appeal was filed in the Hari Pradesh High Court challenging the order of
conviction of the special court. The High Court overturned the judgement of the
Special Court and acquitted the accused. The High Court opined that since Bhang
is excluded from the definition of cannabis (hemp), one of the species of cannabis
plant, therefore, its cultivation is not an offence and is not punishable under
Section 20 of the said act.

10. A Special Leave Petition was filed by the State against the judgement of acquittal
before the Hon’ble Supreme Court under Article 136 of the Constitution of
Hindistan on the ground that the High Court has wrongly interpreted the law by
holding that cultivation of bhang is not punishable under the Act. The
respondents, on the other hand, contend that cultivation of bhang is not
punishable under section 20 of the NDPS Act, 1985 and a confession in the
custody of an NDPS officer is inadmissible under section 26 of the Hindistan
Evidence Act, 1872.

11. The respondents challenged the maintainability of the petition, contending that a
judgement of acquittal is not to be interfered with on flimsy grounds, especially
when it is a settled law that cultivation of bhang is not an offence. The petitioners,
however, contend that the legal position of bhang cultivation is not settled as
different High Courts have expressed different views and thus, the matter
 ~ Shri. G.K. Chatrath Memorial National Moot Court Competition~

demands consideration by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

12. The matter is listed for hearing before the Supreme Court and the following issues
have been framed:

I. Whether the present appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution of Hindistan
is maintainable?
II. Whether the cultivation of bhang is an offence punishable under section 20 of
the NDPS Act, 1985?
III. Whether an extra-judicial confession, while the NDPS officer is not present,
can be treated as a confession made to a police officer for the purposes of section
26 of the Hindistan Evidence Act, 1985?

Note:

1. The laws, rules and regulations in effect in Hindistan are pari-materia to the laws,
rules and regulations of India.

2. The teams are free to formulate any additional issue, if they deem necessary.
However, the issue must be relevant to the case.