A FOREIGN student, who is the son of a prominent Indian magnate, had his 20-month jail term for drug possession and consumption cut to 12 months on Friday.

Raman Kejriwal, 24, who came here for his undergraduate degree when he was 19, was nabbed barely a month before he was to sit for his final year exam.

He was among six young foreign men - from Japan, Indonesia and South Africa - who were picked up as a result of a police check in Jervois Hill between Feb 1 and 2.

Four of them were said to have driven to a Southhaven condominium on Jan 31 to buy cannabis.

In May, Raman pleaded guilty before a district court to three counts of possessing cannabis and one count of consuming the drug.

Six other charges were taken into consideration. He was jailed 10 months on each count, two of which were ordered to run consecutively.

On Friday, represented by lawyer Subhas Anandan, he appealed to have the jail term reduced. The drug peddler Wira Ernawan, 22, an Indonesian, who had sold Raman the drugs, was jailed seven months.

Mr Anandan conceded that Raman faced more possession charges than Wira, but argued that the Indonesian played a greater role in the drug bust.

Justice Lee Seiu Kin agreed and allowed Raman's appeal, on grounds of totality and sentencing parity. He cut each of the four 10-month term to six months, and ordered two of the sentences to run consecutively.

Raman's father is chairman of the Oscar, Santosh & Suraksha group of companies with extensive business presence in India, Hong Kong and China.