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‘Not favourable’ forensic result is not enough: Mumbai court rejects police plea to retest suspected drugs

The Anti Narcotics Cell faced a setback as the Mumbai court noted that retesting under the NDPS Act is only for "exceptional circumstances".

3 min readMumbaiJan 20, 2026 12:05 PM IST

The Mumbai court noted that retesting for drugs under the NDPS Act is only for "exceptional circumstances".

The case pertains to a raid by the Azad Maidan unit of the ANC, which led them allegedly to 1,11,400 tablets of TROHMA 100 SR from a Goregaon resident in July.

A forensic laboratory result not favourable to an investigating agency cannot be a ground for retesting, a special court in Mumbai said in a drugs case last week. In this case, the Mumbai police in July 2025 seized over 1 lakh tablets suspected to be addictive opioids valued at Rs 2.22 crore. However, samples drawn from the seized contraband have tested negative.

The Anti Narcotic Cell of the Mumbai police then filed an application before the special court earlier this month, stating that three samples were sent to the state forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Kalina and that its report, received on December 30, showed the samples tested negative for narcotics. The plea sought permission to send three additional reserved samples to the forensic science laboratory in Hyderabad for retesting.

In the order dated January 13, Special Judge A M Bhandarwar said the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and judgements on its interpretation have clarified that retesting is only permitted in “exceptional circumstances”.

“In the present case, the prayer for retesting is made only for the reason that report came negative, hence, wants to send it for re-analysis. Nothing is mentioned what are the exceptional circumstances that compel the prosecution for retesting/ re-analysis,” the court said.

The court stated that the FSL Kalina did not indicate any inability to analyse the sample due to a lack of necessary equipment, nor did it suggest resending the sample to the central FSL. Since the report was not favourable to the prosecution, it was its responsibility to provide exceptional grounds for retesting, the court noted.

The case pertains to a raid by the Azad Maidan unit of the ANC, which led them allegedly to 1,11,400 tablets of TROHMA 100 SR from a Goregaon resident in July. The police claimed that nine people were involved in the procurement and supply of the narcotics and made arrests. The samples from the seized tablets were drawn and sent for forensic analysis.

Lawyer Pranay Saraf, representing some of the accused, opposed the plea by the ANC, stating that the agency usually relied on the same forensic laboratory and its reports have in the past also been used to convict accused in previous drug cases. He said that there was no ground for a retest.

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The court said that simply the result not being favourable does not justify sending the samples for retesting. Conversely, in all other instances, the prosecution relies on the reports submitted by FSL, Kalina, it added.