Punjab and Haryana HC directs to raid chemist shops, manufacturers to check Over-Priced Hand Sanitisers, Sub-Standard Face Masks

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High court has recently directed the governments of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh administration to conduct raids at chemist shops and drug manufacturers in order to keep a check on the quality and pricing norms set for sanitizers and masks being sold in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The direction came following a petition from a Hisar medical firm booked under the Essential Commodities Act for allegedly cheating people by selling a disinfectant as a sanitizer for which it did not have a license.

As per the notification released on March 21 by the Centre, all hand sanitizers shall not be priced at more than ₹100 per 200 ml.

The court took suo-motu notice of the fact that most companies manufacturing and selling hand sanitizers, even after March 21, are showing the maximum retail price of such products to be far above Rs.250/- for 500 ml.

The court clarified that if shops selling these products also are so selling at prices above what is stipulated in the notification of March 21, 2020, then action would be taken against them too, as per law.

A single bench of justice Justice Amol Rattan Singh observed;

"... the Additional Chief Secretaries/ Principal Secretaries/Secretaries in the Departments of Health, and Food and Supplies, of the States of Haryana, Punjab and U.T. Chandigarh, are directed to have 'raids' conducted at chemist shops and manufacturing units, to obtain samples of hand sanitizers/hand disinfectants; and wherever those are manufactured after March 2020, showing a maximum retail price above Rs.250/- for 500 mls./more than Rs.100/- for 200 mls., proceedings as per law shall be initiated against all such manufacturers. If the shops selling the products also are so selling at prices above what is stipulated in the notification of March 21, 2020, then action would be taken against them too, as per law."

The court further noted;

"Similarly, it has been seen by this court that a large number of brands of facial masks as have been purchased, are of highly sub-standard quality, where even while tying the masks, the strings attached break off immediately, thereby making the masks unusable."

"Consequently, in the 'raids' to be conducted, boxes of masks/individual masks shall also be collected by those of the 'raiding party', with the masks to be tested as regards this basic issue of breaking of strings, and if such breaking is found, or the masks are otherwise found to be of sub-standard quality, proceedings as per law shall be taken against all concerned," the court added.

The additional chief secretaries/principal secretaries/ secretaries concerned, of both the states and of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, have been told to file their own affidavits along with a report on the raids conducted and the results. The matter would now come up for the next hearing on July 6.