Why in News ?The Kerala High Court earlier this month dismissed a petition by a man seeking to quash proceedings against him for growing cannabis.

The petitioner had been caught by excise officials with five cannabis plants on the terrace of a rented house. His defence? The plants had not yet developed “flowering or fruiting tops”, and under law, only the flowering tops constitute “ganja”, the drug. The Bench of Justice CS Dias rejected this argument.

What the NDPS Act says

In 1985, India enacted the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The law did not impose a blanket ban on every part of the cannabis plant.

Section 2(iii) of the NDPS Act defines “cannabis (hemp)” to mean both charas, ganja and any mixture or drink prepared from the two. It defines charas as the “separated resin… obtained from the cannabis plant”. Ganja is defined as the “flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant”. This definition excludes “the seeds and leaves of [the plant] when not accompanied by the tops”.

Punishment linked to quantity

Punishment for cannabis-related offences under the NDPS Act is graded based on quantity:

Small Quantity:

For ganja, up to 1 kg; for charas, up to 100 grams. Possessing a small quantity can lead to imprisonment up to one year, a fine of up to Rs 10,000, or both.

Commercial Quantity:

For ganja, 20 kg or more; for charas, 1 kg or more. This attracts rigorous imprisonment of 10 to 20 years and a fine of Rs 1–2 lakh.

Cultivating the plant:

As seen in the Kerala case, cultivating cannabis attracts rigorous imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to ₹1 lakh.

The bhaang loophole

The NDPS Act excludes seeds and leaves from the definition of cannabis—so bhaang, made from leaves, does not fall under the legal definition of a narcotic drug.

However, this does not mean bhaang is fully unregulated. Under the National Policy on NDPS, states regulate bhaang. Some, like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, license shops to sell bhaang; others, like Assam, have banned it entirely.

Growing at home not allowed

If cannabis leaves aren’t covered by the NDPS Act, why can’t one grow a plant to harvest the leaves?

The Kerala High Court answered this:

Section 8(b) of the Act prohibits the cultivation of any cannabis plant except for medical or scientific purposes and only in the manner prescribed by the government.

The court ruled that the definition of a “cannabis plant” in Section 2(iv) of the Act is “any plant of the genus cannabis”.

The NDPS Act does not distinguish between a plant with flowers and one without — the entire plant is illegal to cultivate.

Thus, the Act draws a clear line between:

• The cannabis plant, whose cultivation is prohibited, and

• The product (ganja) made from flowering tops, which is regulated by quantity.

While ganja is punished more harshly, the law clearly prohibits cultivation of any cannabis plant.