Bengaluru,  The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail petition of a Kerala man, arrested on charges of exporting drugs from the country, holding that drugs have a bearing on the country's economy.

A bench, headed by Justice Rajendra Badamikar, said that drug cartels target the young generation and casts a bad spell on the whole society. Illegal investments are made into the drug trade and it is carried out against the law. This can't be taken lightly, it said.

The accused, Taha Umar from Kerala's Malappuram, owned a medical shop and had allegedly misused the Aadhaar card of an employee, created fake patients and doctor's prescriptions and allegedly sent drugs to foreign countries.

Umar had sent 'Clonazepam', a prohibited tablet under NDPS Act to the address of Jainul Abid Man Paramban in Saudi Arabia under the name of Ajmal Nanath Waliyat. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths at the Bengaluru International Airport detected this and seized tablets weighing 357 grams. Umar was arrested on August 25 this year.

Counsel for the accused insisted that bail should be granted as the standard order under the NDPS Act states collection of five grams of narcotic substance is necessary. Since, the authorities have collected only 4.2 grams and standard protocol was not followed, the accused is eligible for getting bail, counsel argued.

However, the court observed that despite the lesser amount, authorities had not refused tests on the seized substance.

Counsel also claimed that Umar is innocent and he is not the person who indulged in export activity and supplied only medical instruments.

Umar had moved the high court as the lower court rejected his bail plea.