KOCHI: The Kerala High Court said that if the case of smoking ganja is to be retained, the smell alone is not enough, evidence is required. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas made this clear after canceling the case filed by the Malampuzha police against a 22-year-old youth of Palakkad.

The case was registered against the youth in January last year. The youth, who was sitting near the Malampuzha dam and smoking, seeing police threw the cigarette into the dam. The police then registered a case under the NDPS Act on the grounds that the breath of the youth had the smell of ganja. The youth then moved the high court demanding to quash the case.

The argument was that a case cannot be filed in the name that breath has the smell of ganja. However, in the absence of other evidence, the court said the case would not stand on the ground that the breath has the smell of ganja. An intoxicating smell on the breath may be grounds for suspicion, but cannot be considered as evidence. Identifying smell is not final. The court said that everyone's ability in this regard is different. It was also assessed that the case against the petitioner was an abuse of court proceedings.