Some agriculturists have approached the Bombay High Court seeking action against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sujay Patil for illegal procurement and distribution of Remdesivir injections given to Covid-19 infected patients as per some news sources.
LiveLaw reported that the plea seeks strict action against the politician and others under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Indian Penal Code, alleging that “political figures are encashing the pandemic situation for their vote bank at the risk of lives of many patients…To impress voters and to create chaos, politicians like Dr. Sujay are indulging in such tactics in procuring and stocking the injections,” states the plea.
The plea also refers to some videos on social media where Patil was seen sitting inside an aircraft with boxes, allegedly containing Remdesivir, besides him, claiming that he has procured the vials from confidential sources for the poor, adding that 100 Remdesivir vials were given to Sai Baba Hospital and Ahmednagar district hospital. The plea alleges that several vials were distributed in Patil’s private hospital in Pravara.
According to a LiveLaw report, the petition states that if action is not taken against the practice of politicians distributing Remdesivir injections to the public without authority or license in this pandemic, it would become a “routine practice among most of the politicians and the same would cause stocking of the injections by depriving the needy.”
The plea was listed before Justices Ravindra Ghuge and BU Debadwar and they briefly heard advocate Pradnya Talekar and kept the matter for hearing on April 29, after the Chief Public Prosecutor submitted that the case was regarding an MP and he would require time to take instructions.
The petition further claims that the state police failed to understand that the Member of Parliament has no authority to purchase and distribute any medical equipment or medicines under any law. “Dr. Sujay Vikhe Patil is a non-practising medical professional and he cannot step into the shoes of the chemist or pharmacist in procuring the medicines that too without permission of the competent authorities”, read the plea as per LiveLaw.
The petitioners have also claimed that the 10,000 vials of Remdesivir purchased without any authority or licence may have been purchased from the black market. It is highly likely that spurious injections are being pumped in the market owing to the dire urgency and the petitioners have prayed for the High Court to pass orders on the matter.
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