Narayan Das vs State Of Chhattisgarh 2025 INSC 872- S.32B NDPS Act

NDPS Act 1986 - Section 32-B - In a given case, the trial court may not find it necessary to consider the factors as prescribed in Section 32-B. Having regard to the quantity of the contraband, the nature of the narcotic or the psychotropic substance, as the case may be, the antecedents, if any, etc., may deem fit to impose punishment which can be more than the minimum- Since Section 32-B uses “may deem fit” in addition to the enumerated factors, it does not restrict the courts to only those factors but allows broader discretion in sentencing - Clarified Rafiq Qureshi vs. Narcotic Control Bureau Eastern Zonal Unit (2019) 6 SCC 492[Context: SC disagreed with the HC view that if the trial court wants to impose sentence more than the minimum prescribed under the NDPS Act, then it is obliged to assign reasons and observed: It appears that the understanding of the High Court so far as Section 32-B of the NDPS is concerned is that the minimum sentence should be considered as maximum sentence. That isnot the correct understanding of Section 32-B of the NDPS Act.]