They can pay thrimthue in lieu of prison term
Following the Supreme Court order of July 28, which allowed those convicted in the Spasmo Proxyvon Plus (SP+) related cases to pay thrimthue in lieu of prison term, the Chukha dzongkhag court yesterday ordered a 37-year-old woman to pay thrimthue for five years, 11 months and 15 days prison term.
Karma Dema from Chukha village of Lamgong, Paro, was arrested with 1,535 SP+ capsules on June 1 this year from Gedu while she was travelling in a public transport from Phuentsholing to Thimphu.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) charged the woman for violating the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse (NDPSSA) Act 2015, stating that although the main ingredient of SP+, tramadol, is not listed in the annexure of controlled substances in the Act, it has the addictive ingredient opioid and that the capsules were brought for abuse. She also tested positive for the substance when Gedu police conducted a urine test.
Karma Dema submitted before the court that she brought the substance for her own use.
In the judgment, the court stated that since Karma Dema was guilty of violating NDPSSA Act and since the crime is graded a third-degree felony, she was imprisoned for six years.
Karma Dema who has spent 15 nights in Gedu police custody was made to pay thrimthue for the remaining prison term.
On the same day, Chukha dzongkhag court also sentenced a 31-year-old businessman to five years in prison for illicit trafficking of 44 capsules of SP+.
Gunaraj Khurel from Denchukha in Chukha can also pay thrimthue for four years 11 months and 18 days, as he spent 12 days in detention.
He was arrested on December 25 last year and was granted bail on January 1 this year.
Tashi Dema