Jharkhand HC Cuts 66-Year-Old Widow’s NDPS Sentence To Time Served For 10.10g Heroin, Retains ₹30,000 Fine

The appellant was convicted under Sections 21(b) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, after pleading guilty to possessing 50 pouches of heroin weighing 10.10 grams, recovered from her house on 10 July 2025.

The trial court sentenced her to three years and two months’ rigorous imprisonment, a fine of ₹30,000, and three months’ simple imprisonment in default of payment.

In appeal, she did not challenge her conviction, but sought reduction of sentence, relying on her age and widowhood, the absence of particulars supporting the trial court’s reference to criminal antecedents, and the quantity being only just above the small-quantity threshold.

The State was unrepresented.

The conviction was under Sections 21(b) and 29 of the NDPS Act.

The appellant invoked Section 32B of the Act in support of her submission concerning sentencing factors.

The judgment does not set out a detailed interpretation of Section 32B or rely on any precedent; it assesses the sentence by reference to the mitigating circumstances advanced and the circumstances of the offence.

The Court noted that the conviction rested on the appellant’s guilty plea and that the appeal did not challenge that conviction.

On sentence, it found that the trial court’s sentencing approach was routine and had not properly considered the mitigating circumstances.

In particular, the appellant was an elderly widow, the asserted criminal antecedents lacked identified particulars, and the recovered quantity was only just above the small-quantity threshold.

The Court therefore reduced imprisonment to the period already undergone.

The fine of ₹30,000 and the three-month default sentence remained unchanged.

As the appellant was in custody, the Court directed her release forthwith unless required in another case, and disposed of the appeal and pending interlocutory application.