Expired medicines sold by re-stamping them as unexpired serious matter: HC
New Delhi, Nov 16: Terming as "serious" sale of expired drugs as unexpired by erasing the original manufacturing and expiry dates and re-stamping them, the Delhi High Court Friday said the Centre ought to look into the matter.
A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao said primarily such activities were "happening in Kolkata and Ahmedabad", where expired medicines were re-stamped as un-expired and routed to other places via Delhi.
Therefore, the central authorities have to look into it, the court said and issued notice to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). It also sought their replies to a lawyer's plea seeking directions to the government to curb sale of such medicines.
"It is a serious matter," the court said and listed it for further hearing on March 11.
Advocate Amit Sahni, in his PIL, has claimed that the original manufacturing and expiry dates as well as the maximum retail price (MRP) are erased from expired medicines by the offenders and the drugs are re-stamped as unexpired to sell them.
He said he filed the petition after coming across news reports of such activities taking place in West Bengal, where police had arrested some persons who were reselling expired medicines by changing the expiry dates.
The plea said "expired medicines sold as un-expired not only affect the health of the affected person(s), but the same leads to unnecessary financial burden, which does not serve the purpose in any manner".
It said there was a video on YouTube that showed how the original manufacturing and expiry dates as well as the MRP can be erased by aftershave lotions and then re-stamped with fresh details.
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Surat spiritual guru among seven held in Rs 2.38 crore fake currency racket in Ahmedabad
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Ahmedabad (PTI): City police has seized high-quality counterfeit Indian currency with a face value of Rs 2.38 crore and apprehended seven persons, officials said on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, the crime branch apprehended the accused, including a Surat-based spiritual and yoga teacher, when they arrived here on Wednesday, and seized 42,000 fake notes Rs 500 denomination.
Mukesh Thummar, Ashok Mavani, Ramesh Bhalar, Divyesh Rana, Pradip Jotangiya, Bharat Kakadiya and a woman allegedly brought the high-quality Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) in an SUV which was intercepted near Amraiwadi area, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajit Rajian.
Pradip Jotangiya is a 'spiritual and yoga teacher' at Shree Satyam Yog Foundation in Surat. The SUV had a "VVVIP" sticker and a plate reading "Shri Satyam Yog Foundation Recognized by Ayush Mantralay, Govt. of India".
Currency bundles were recovered from a black bag and concealed packaging inside the vehicle, the official said, adding that the process to arrest the accused was underway.
A crime branch team was immediately sent to Surat, and in coordination with the Surat crime branch, another Rs 28 lakh in fake currency was seized from a house where notes were being printed. Some equipment was also seized, DCP Rajian added.
Mukesh Thummar was allegedly the kingpin of the racket and arranged equipment and raw material including printers and paper cutting machines, as per an official release. Counterfeit currency was being printed at the place for the last four months, it added.
The accused had procured security thread paper resembling RBI markings from Chinese sources through e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, it said.
Probe also revealed that photo-editing software and AI-based platforms such as ChatGPT were used to refine the design, layout, and visual features of counterfeit notes. One of the accused had expertise in graphic editing and printing processes.
The accused initially tested the counterfeit notes by using them in a few transactions. After gaining confidence that the fake currency was not being detected, they engaged agents to produce additional notes, Rajian said.
The accused will be produced before a court later on Thursday and police will seek their custody, he said.
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