High and low: SC registrar stubs petition for cannabis legalisation

Petitioner says he will re-file; objections include labelling petition ‘frivolous’

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has dampened the excitement of a Sindhi lawyer by returning his constitution plea for the state to legalise and regulate cannabis trade in the country.

Applicant Amanullah Somroo has been in the capital with his wife for the last seven days to plead his case for the regularisation of cannabis on lines similar to alcohol laws in most parts of the world.

In the petition, filed under Article 184 of the constitution, Somroo pleads that he is a resident of Mirpur Khas and works as a lawyer, adding that has been regularly using cannabis since 1963.

He states that in the 1960s, there was no ban on the sale of cannabis and use of the herb in food and medicine was common, especially in Sindh, while adding that it was also seen a part of the menus at weddings. He also refers to its use in cooling beverages in the hottest areas of the country.

He said military dictator General Ziaul Haq was responsible for the ban on the sale of cannabis in the country.

In reference to domestic liquor licence laws, the applicant claims that cannabis has significance in Hunduism, while alcohol does not, adding that cannabis has also not explicitly been declared illegal or off-limits in any major religion, adding that according to a report, 570,000 people regularly use the herb in the province of Sindh.

He said that cannabis is a very cheap ‘high’, and is popular among poor people to calm their nerves in the evening.  The applicant also attached a research study of published in a Canadian medical journal to establish the health benefits of cannabis.

The SC registrar’s office, however, has returned the plea while raising four objections.

The registrar office has observed that the petition appears to be a frivolous, as “neither the petitioner seeks enforcement of any of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution...nor has he approached any high court or any other appropriate forum available under the law for the same relief. He has also not provided any justification for not doing so”

The registrar’s office also objected that the petitioner is directly invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 184 over an individual grievance, which may not be permissible, based off precedent from the judgment in a 1998 case titled Zulfiqar Mehdi vs PIA.

Somroo told The Express Tribune that he would file an appeal against the registrar’s office’s objections. He stated that he had also moved an application before Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah for the regularisation of cannabis trade, but no action has been taken on that plea as of yet. To a question, the 70-year-old claimed the secret to his good health was regular cannabis use.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2016.