Mumbai: A magistrate’s court on Monday granted bail to TV comedian Bharti Singh and scriptwriter-actor husband, Haarsh Limbachiyaa, who were arrested by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday. The couple was booked after NCB raided their production office and residence and allegedly found 86.5 gm of ganja. The court found no justifiable grounds to deny bail.

Neither the NCB nor the public prosecutor representing the investigating agency appeared before the court to make submissions on the bail pleas. The NCB did not even submit replies on the bail pleas.

The couple had moved court for bail on Sunday. They were produced in court and were remanded to judicial custody till December 4. Advocates Ayaz Khan, Dilip Mishra and Zehra Charania had submitted that the amount allegedly recovered qualified as a “small quantity” under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and punishment was up to a year’s imprisonment. They also said the case was triable by the magistrate court. Under the NDPS Act up to 1 kg ganja is defined as small quantity, and 20 kg and above qualifies as commercial quantity. A person found guilty of being involved with commercial quantities can be jailed for 20 years.

The defence submitted the couple was not accused of peddling drugs. They said the prosecution claimed that both purchased drugs for personal consumption.“NDPS Act was amended in 2001 and the object and reasons of the amendment was that bail should be granted for persons who are consumers and involved in small quantities,” the defence submitted. They said Bharti was an actor performing in TV reality shows, had acted in Indian feature films, had deep roots in society and there was no possibility of her absconding.

The couple has been booked under charges relating to possession and consumption of ganja. NCB said Singh and Limbachiyaa had admitted to consumption of ganja.

NCB has been probing prevalence of drugs in the film industry following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14. Over 25 accused have been booked and arrested for drug-related offences so far.