Mumbai Court Grants Interim Bail to Woman Arrested with Ganja on Medical Grounds

A special NDPS court in Mumbai has granted one-month interim bail on medical grounds to a 24-year-old woman arrested at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in connection with 3.46 kg of alleged ganja.

The accused was granted temporary relief after informing the court that she was suffering from profuse bleeding following gender-reassignment surgery. The Airport Intelligence Unit (AIU) had arrested her at the airport in connection with the alleged contraband seizure.

Appearing through video conferencing, the woman told the court that she continued to suffer complications and bleeding despite undergoing medical treatment at JJ and KEM hospitals. The prosecution had not filed a reply to her application for interim bail.

Special Judge Arvind M Bhandarwar noted that the accused is a woman and that the alleged contraband falls under the intermediate quantity category under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Considering the medical condition placed on record and noting that her main bail application was yet to be decided, the court ruled that she deserved interim bail "in the interest of justice."

The court directed her release on a personal bond of ₹50,000 with one or two solvent sureties for one month from the date of her release.

As part of the bail conditions, she must surrender her passport if it has not already been seized, and she is prohibited from leaving the court's jurisdiction or India without prior permission. The woman must also surrender before the court when the one-month interim bail period expires.