Probe how celebrities procured anti-Covid-19 drugs: Bombay HC to Maha govt

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to investigate how celebrities and politicians procured antiCovid19 drugs and injections to help those in need when the same were available only in scarce quantities across the countryA vacation bench of Justices Amjad Sayyad and G S Kulkarni said such celebrities might have had the noble intention of helping others but only the Union government was authorised to allocate those drugsThese people celebrities might not realise that they are acting in defiance of the legal set up it notedTherefore an inquiry must be conducted to rule out issues such as illegal procurement hoarding blackmarketing and providing spurious drugsAlso Read Politicians have no business to hoard Covid19 medicines Delhi High CourtThe courts order came after Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni who appeared for the Maharashtra government submitted that the state had issued show cause notices to Mumbai Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique actor Sonu Soods charity foundation and some others over the matterKumbhakoni said Siddique and Sood had sent their replies saying they neither purchased nor stocked the medicines and injectionsThey said they had only acted as facilitators in some cases after paying the cost of the medicines and in some cases without paying for them They said that they got in touch with manufacturers Kumbhakoni told the HCHe said notices had also been issued to Cipla and other manufacturers for allegedly having supplied Remdesivir drug to celebritiesThe HC however asked how was it possible that celebrities got in touch with manufacturers to get the medicines when the drugs were to be allotted only through the central governmentCan your authorities accept this reply Is this believable the HC askedKumbhakoni then said the states inquiry into the matter was still going onWe will take the probe to its logical end he saidThe Union governments counsel Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the bench that the Centre has already questioned the manufacturers of Remdesivir and other antiCovid19 drugs and they had denied having supplied them to any politician or celebrityThe court noted that the Sood Charity Foundation said in its reply that it had contacted Cipla and other manufacturersLet the state take note of your UOI affidavit and carry on with its probe If celebrities say they got it from manufacturers but manufacturers deny then this needs to be investigated the HC saidThe court said the celebrities and politicians in question might have had good intentions but they could not help citizens while defying a legal set upThese people celebrities might not realise that they are acting in defiance of the entire set up the legal system the HC saidThe court was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations PILs seeking proper management of issues related to the Covid19 pandemic including streamlining the allocation of drugs and injectionsAdvocate Rajesh Inamdar counsel for one of the pleas told the HC that several such celebrities were even providing drugs for mucormycosis or black fungus a serious infection found in several Covid19 patientsThe HC however said all of these issues were for the state to look intoThey are not before us as parties so we cant pass any orders against them But it is the state governments responsibility to caution them to take undertakings from them the HC saidLet the state inquire into all this All those who want to help let them help through legal channels it saidThe HC will continue hearing in the matter next weekThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever