Photo Courtesy: tripuratimes
Agartala: The Tripura High Court cleared a Himachal Pradesh pharmaceutical firm and its directors of criminal charges. Justice Biswajit Palit ruled the prosecution failed to follow mandatory procedures under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The court set aside an order from an Agartala Judicial Magistrate First Class dated January 10, 2023.
Trouble began in an Agartala medicine shop on January 29, 2021. Inspectors seized Rabeprazole Sodium and Itopride capsules from Innova Captab. The Regional Drugs Testing Laboratory in Guwahati later flagged the drug as not of standard quality. The capsules failed the assay test.
Investigators botched the timeline. Section 23(4)(i) of the Act demands samples go to a Government Analyst forthwith. Officials waited until February 1, 2021, to deliver the haul. They offered no excuse for the gap. Rules demand analysts submit reports within 60 days. The lab took until October 12, 2021, to issue findings. Regulators never requested the required government extension.
The Union government blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the analyst's death for the lag. The court rejected this defense. It noted that the Supreme Court's pandemic-era deadline extensions applied to court filings, not lab reports. The court ruled the prosecution lacked a legal leg to stand on.
Prosecutors also blocked the company's rights. They failed to offer the statutory chance to challenge the findings as required by Section 25. This move denied the accused a vital legal safeguard. The judge stated, "mandatory procedural safeguards under the Act had not been followed, rendering the prosecution legally unsustainable." The court effectively terminated the case and discharged all petitioners from criminal liability.
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