ED files charge sheet in Remdesivir black marketing case
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said that they have filed a prosecution complaint (charge sheet) against Rahul Bardhan, Biswajit Das, and Nishita Kanodia, for illegal selling and black marketing of Bangladeshi-made Remdesivir injection vials during Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.
The charge sheet was filed before the Special ED court in Kolkata. The court has taken cognisance of it and has summoned all the accused on the next date of hearing.
The ED commenced investigation in the case on the basis of an FIR lodged by Kolkata Police under various sections of the IPC and the Drugs & Cosmetics Act.
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In its charge sheet, it has alleged that Bardhan ran an illegal network for black marketing Bangladeshi-made Remdesivir and sold the same through the other two accused at exorbitant prices.
In February this year, ED had provisionally attached proceeds of crime obtained through illegal sale of such drugs belonging to Bardhan and Kanodia under the PMLA.
Remdesivir is a nucleotide analog invented by Gilead Sciences. It has broad-spectrum antiviral activity both in vitro and in vivo in animal models against multiple emerging viral pathogens, including Ebola, SARS, Marburg, MERS and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It is administered via injection into a vein.
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