BACKGROUND
The coronavirus disease which is also referred to as COVID-19 has affected everyone across the globe.
This deadly virus has caused about 34.7 lakh deaths worldwide, and about 3.04 lakhs in India alone.
At this moment, India is affected in the worst possible way. Even after such a major loss, this virus continues to affect people in such an adverse manner.
Scientists in almost every country have been working day and night to find a cure for this disease. Even after a list of vaccines being introduced and approved by the World Health Organisation, India still continues to drown in the sea of crises and suffer because of the medicines and injections being sold in the black market.
The concept of black market or corruption is not new to our country. It has penetrated into almost every single section of our society.
Even today, where the medical practitioners and almost everyone involved in the medical field have been working day and night to cure everyone who has been suffering from this deadly virus, on the other hand the masterminds continue to find new ways to make money even out of someone’s life or death.
Almost every day we get to know about new scandals about either fake medicines being sold to people or how these medicines are being sold in the black market.
The medical system of our nation has fallen. Different countries have been trying to aid us in different possible ways, yet we continue to lose our loved ones and those who are dear to us.
It was on the 24th of May that a direction was passed by the Delhi High Court to the Department of Drugs Control in Delhi to launch a probe into the illegal procurement of Fabiflu strips, (which are required for the treatment of coronavirus) at the moment when there was a shortage of supply for this medicine.
The Delhi police which is already working on the investigation regarding the hoarding of drugs required for COVID-19 by politicians, has been asked by the high court to hand over the relevant material for the purpose of investigation to the drug controller.
WHO ALL WERE INVOLVED
The High Court of Delhi has ordered for an investigation into the matter of illegal stocking and hoarding of drugs. The allegations have been put on the following individuals :
1. Gautam Gambhir – he is a former cricketer and a present member of the parliament. He had a very successful career as a cricketer and joined the ruling party in 2019, where he won the election from East Delhi. He has also been awarded with the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri.
2. Preeti Tomar – she is an Indian politician, who belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party, and is a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Her husband, Jitendra Singh Tomar is also a former member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. She was elected from Tri Nagar in February 2020.
3. Praveen Kumar – he is also an Indian Politician along with being a former member of the Sixth Legislative Assembly of Delhi. He represents the Jangpura constituency of Delhi.
WHAT DID THE COURT SAY
A plea was filed which aimed at registering FIRs against the leaders of these political parties, who hoarded medicines illegally and denied their access to the public at large. The division bench comprised of Justice Vipin Singh and Justice Jasmeet Singh.
The court stated that the facts of this case are related to the violation of Drugs and Cosmetics Act and here it is the duty of the drug controller to carry on the inquiry. The court also ordered that all the documents should be collected and placed at the disposal of the drug controller, and he will have to submit the status report within a week.
It was during the course of the hearing when the advocate pointed out that this act helps us to know that there exists a network between the accused, the chemists and the doctors which should be further investigated by the court.
After this, the remark that was made by Justice Sanghi was : there can be a possibility that the acts of Mr. Gambhir were to help the people but we need to be clear about this, because the question that arises here is, if it can be counted as responsible behaviour. He should have realised that there already exists a shortage of medicines in our country and should have given this a thought especially when people were not able to procure these medicines. He also stated that this was no way to help anybody as it resulted in the suffering of many people.
He further stated that it can be possible that his intention was not to create such a situation or make so many people suffer but his actions were still wrong. And considering the way he has opted, it can be called nothing but a disservice. Even if they had the best services to offer. These are still malpractices and we cannot permit this in our society.
Another issue that was raised by the advocate was that the police report (of the investigation) which was submitted by the Delhi Police and spoke about the two MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party was of a shoddy nature.
The court also asked the drug controller to enlighten them about the enquiry that was conducted as the material did not indicate anything clearly and asked as to what action could be taken against these people and everyone else who was involved in this chain.
It was after this that the court had asked the drug controller to carry out an enquiry for this and also in their status report include the findings with respect to the medical oxygen cylinders which were procured against the MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party.
The court had also directed the law department of GNCTD as they felt that the drug controller was not very aware of the powers of inquiry or the prosecution of the cases with regards to the violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, to ensure that the drug controller has the necessary expertise.
The court has further stated that this matter will now be considered on the 31st of May.
Do you think that all who were involved in this act should be held guilty for the illegal hoarding of the medicines and drugs?
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