Delay in Prosecution Denied Right to Drug Sample Re-Analysis: HC Quashes Case Against Pharma Firm
New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has dismissed criminal proceedings initiated against a pharmaceutical company based in Himachal Pradesh in a case related to alleged substandard drugs. The court ruled that delays by authorities prevented the accused from exercising their statutory right to seek re-analysis of the drug sample.
The case originated from a complaint filed by a Drug Inspector who alleged that a drug sample collected during inspection did not meet prescribed quality standards. The complaint was registered under Section 18(a)(i) read with Section 28 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which prohibits the manufacture or sale of drugs that fail to comply with quality specifications. The complaint named several individuals, including the company’s Managing Director.
The accused challenged the case before the High Court, contending that the prosecution was initiated after a considerable delay. Because of this delay, the shelf life of the drug sample had expired before they could request re-testing of the sample at the Central Drugs Laboratory, which is the designated authority for final verification of drug quality under the law.
While examining the matter, the High Court observed that Section 25 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act grants an accused person the right to contest the findings of the Government Analyst by seeking re-analysis of the retained sample at the Central Drugs Laboratory. However, this right can only be exercised if the sample remains within its shelf life and is still fit for analysis.
The court noted that although the accused had expressed their intention to challenge the analyst’s report, the authorities failed to initiate the prosecution in a timely manner or ensure that the retained sample was sent for re-testing. By the time the accused appeared before the trial court following the issuance of summons, the shelf life of the drug sample had already expired, making re-analysis impossible.
According to a recent media report by the ETV Bharat, the High Court held that the delay attributable to the prosecution had effectively deprived the accused of an important statutory safeguard provided under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
Consequently, the court allowed the petition and set aside the criminal complaint pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Pulwama, along with the order through which the alleged offence had been taken into cognisance.
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