KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has issued a landmark judgment prohibiting police and investigative agencies from using the colloquial slang term “weed” in First Information Reports (FIRs), recovery memos, and official legal documents. A two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Faisal Kamal Alam and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito issued this detailed directive while granting post-arrest bail to an accused, Iftikhar Hussain, against a surety bond of Rs. 50,000. The court explicitly noted that the term “weed” has no legal definition under the Sindh Control of Narcotic Substances Act 2024 or the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961, ruling that its continuous use in official records creates unnecessary legal ambiguity.
To maintain strict uniformity, clarity, and transparency in criminal proceedings, the court mandated that investigative agencies must exclusively use legally recognized and technically accurate terminology, such as cannabis, charas, bhang, or ganja. The judgment further emphasized that the identification of any seized substance must rely strictly on Chemical Examiner or Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports rather than street slang. To ensure immediate and widespread compliance across the province, the Sindh High Court has directed the Chief Secretary of Sindh, the Director General of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), and the Inspector General of Sindh Police to issue formal administrative instructions to all relevant officers.
