Srinagar, May 2 -- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has rejected a plea seeking suspension of sentence and bail by a man convicted in a drug trafficking case involving commercial quantity of contraband.

A Bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar dismissed the application filed by Bashir Ahmad Bhat, who was sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

The case arises from an FIR registered in 2021, in which police recovered 70 kilograms of poppy straw from a vehicle at Dhonipora along the Anantnag-Sangam highway. The trial court had convicted Bhat in October last year.

While seeking bail, Bhat argued that he had already spent over four years in cus...