BENGALURU: He was caught with 4.3 kgs of ganja, but the 50-year-old man from Chamarajanagara district has been acquitted of all charges by the Karnataka High Court all because of a police error. While recording its complaint against him in Kannada, it said he was carrying "ganja soppu."

Although charged under section 20(B)(ii)(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the man has now walked free because ganja, commonly referred to as marijuana, hash or weed, has a specific definition under the Act. It describes the soft drug as a flowering or fruiting top of the cannabis plant. But "ganja soppu" implies the plant he was carrying had stems, roots and seeds as well.

Seizing on this simple error by the police, the advocate for the accused was quick to point out to the court that nowhere in the NDPS Act it is said that ganja has leaves, seeds or other parts of the cannabis plant. In other words his client was technically not carrying ganja, he argued.

A helpless government advocate could hardly deny that ganja has a particular definition under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the "soppu" the man was carrying by the police's own admission did not fit the description given. The case ended with the "soppu" winning the day and the court quashing all proceedings against the accused.