Mumbai: A magistrate’s court on Sunday sent television comedian Bharti Singh and her scriptwriter-actor husband, Haarsh Limbachiyaa, to judicial custody till December 14.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had arrested Singh and Limbachiyaa on Saturday after raiding their production office and residence, where they said they found 86.5 grams of ganja.

The hearing on the two’s bail applications will take place on Monday.

The couple, arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act in a case of alleged possession and consumption of ganja, were produced before a holiday court on Sunday. In a press release issued on Saturday, the NCB had said Singh and Limbachiyaa had accepted the consumption of ganja.

Special public prosecutor Atul Sarpande sought NCB custody since he said Limbachiyaa was found in possession of 86.5 grams of ganja, a prohibited substance under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS). The amount was recovered from searches in their residential and office premises.

Limbachiyaa’s lawyer Ayaz Khan argued that no NCB custody was required as it was at best a case of alleged personal consumption. The magistrate did not grant police custody. Their bail plea was filed and will be heard on Monday.

Advocate Khan said bail ought to be given in the case. He argued that it was not even the case of the prosecution that they were peddling drugs. The court sent the husband and wife to judicial custody till December 14. The seized quantity was small and punishment was up to a year.

The law defines up to 1 kg of ganja as small quantity, and 20 kg and above as commercial quantity. For small quantities, the punishment could be up to a year or fine of Rs 10,000, or both. If a person is found with commercial quantities, he can be jailed for 20 years if convicted.

The central agency NCB has been arresting drug consumers and peddlers for the past two months. It has registered drug cases after the death of film actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June.

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Comedian Bharti Singh has voluntarily disclosed that she used to smoke weed joints/ganja purchased by her husband, according to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials.

Bharti and her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa, a screen writer, who were arrested on Saturday by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials on charges of alleged consumption of drugs were produced before a court in the city on Sunday which remanded them to judicial custody till December 4.

The agency had raided their residence and office and seized 86.5 grams of ganja. During questioning, Limbachiyaa has admitted to having procured and consumed ganja and was in touch with a peddler to procure contraband, NCB officials said.

Arguing for judicial custody of the couple before the court, their advocate Ayaz Khan said, “It is a case of small quantity of contraband, punishment for which is up to one year in jail. The prosecution’s case is that it was a case of consumption and not peddling of drugs. We argued that why the NCB required custody in a consumption case wherein statements have already been recorded.”

A team of NCB officials under the supervision of Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede had conducted a search at the Versova production house of Limbachiyaa on Saturday. The officials had found 65 grams of a green colour leafy substance, which was tested and it turned out to be ganja.

The team then conducted a search at the residence of Limbachiyaa and Bharti in Andheri, and recovered 21.5 grams of ganja and unaccounted Rs 1.49 lakh in cash.

“A notice was served to Bharti Singh under the provisions of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and her statement was recorded. In her statement, Bharti voluntarily disclosed that she used to smoke weed joints/ganja purchased by her husband Limbachiyaa often. Bharti was then placed under arrest,” said an NCB official.

He added, in his statement, that Limbachiyaa told the officials that he used to procure and smoke weed joints/ganja. “He further disclosed that he had purchased the contraband from a peddler. He had kept some quantity of the contraband at his office, while the remaining at his residence which we had seized during searches. Limbachiyaa too was then placed under arrest late on Saturday evening,” the official said.

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Comedian Bharti Singh and her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa, who were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) probing the drug syndicate in Bollywood, were sent to judicial custody till December 4 on Sunday. Though the NCB had sought their custody, the court refused it saying that it was only a case of consumption.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik slammed the agency by saying that it was targeting Bollywood and arresting the addicts instead of sending them to rehab.

While Bharti was arrested earlier, post a long interrogation on Sunday morning, the NCB arrested Harsh as well. The agency had seized small quantities of Ganja from their premises. On Sunday, the duo was produced before the holiday court in South Bombay and sent to judicial custody. "We had sought two days custody to understand how they purchased the drugs and how payments were made to the peddler, but the court refused it," said advocate Atul Sarpande, who appeared for NCB.

Bharti and Harsh have applied for bail before the Esplanade Court. The matter will be heard today. While Bharti has been sent to the Byculla women's prison, her husband has been lodged at Taloja jail.

The NCB in its remand application has mentioned that Harsh used to procure drugs for the two of them and that they want to probe his links with other drug peddlers as well. The application further mentions that both confessed to consuming Ganja.

While hearing the matter, the court observed, "The drug seized from their residence is of a small quantity. Also, it's a case of consumption only, hence police custody under such circumstances is not required." The court also noted that the sections under which both have been booked attract only a year's punishment, so the remand was not required.

Meanwhile, Malik launched an attack against NCB and said, "The agency is known for big catches, but where is the big catch? Is it their job to arrest addicts with such small quantities of drugs? If someone is addicted to drugs, it means he/she is unwell and they need a rehab centre not a prison. The national agency is not arresting big fishes involved in trafficking and smuggling through international channels. Can the agency come clear on how drugs are being trafficked in India?"

- Section 8 (c) — Produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import inter-state, export inter-state, import into India, export from India or transship any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance

- Section 20 b (A) — For producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, importing inter-state, exporting inter-state or using cannabis that involves small quantity

- Section 27 – Punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance