If the holder of any licence, permit or authorisation granted under this Act or any rule or order made thereunder, or any person in his employ and acting on his behalf—
(a) omits, without any reasonable cause, to maintain accounts or to submit any return in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or the rule made thereunder;
(b) fails to produce without any reasonable cause such licence, permit or authorisation on demand of any officer authorised by the Central Government or State Government;
(c) keeps any accounts or makes any statement which is false or which he knows or has reason to believe to be incorrect; or
(d) wilfully does any act in breach of any of the conditions of licence, permit or authorisation for which a penalty is not provided elsewhere in this Act,
he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine or with both.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 26
Section 26 of the NDPS Act penalizes licensed manufacturers, dealers, and their employees for regulatory defaults—including failure to maintain accounts, failure to submit returns, unauthorized refusal to produce registers, and wilful breach of license terms—with imprisonment up to three years or fine.
In pharmaceutical and chemist inspections, when police improperly register FIRs under commercial trafficking provisions (e.g. Section 21/22) for book discrepancies, file a petition under Section 482 CrPC (Section 528 BNSS) to alter the charge to Section 26, which is bailable and non-commercial, securing immediate release.