Cannabis remains contraband in India, after the Bombay high court dismissed a petition filed in April to decriminalise its use, on the ground that the legislature, and not the court, was the appropriate forum for the challenge.

Advocate Aditya Barthakur has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay high court challenging the criminalisation of cannabis under Indian law, based on the fact that none of six government organs he queried had any idea about how the herb is harmful to the human body.