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The death of at least 21 children in Madhya Pradesh due to acute kidney failure caused by diethylene glycol (DEG)-contaminated cough syrup has exposed profound weaknesses in India’s drug regulatory and enforcement structure.
In the wake of this public health catastrophe, drug control officers nationwide are now mounting an urgent, unified demand to transform their long-dormant legal authority into a practical power to arrest and detain violators, aiming to put a swift end to the menace of spurious drugs.
This critical push for executive power is heavily supported by the Supreme Court’s 2020 Ashok Kumar Sharma ruling, which legally established that drugs inspectors (DIs) are the sole statutory authority for investigating and arresting offenders under Chapter IV of the Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act, 1940. This ruling, while reinforcing the DI's primary role, crucially stripped the general police of the power to register First Information Reports (FIRs) for these specialized pharmaceutical crimes, creating a clear line of accountability that now demands practical implementation.
Momentum for the demand was recently built by the Telangana Drug Control Administration (DCA), which executed a landmark operation leading to the arrest of two wholesalers involved in selling counterfeit medicines. This success proved that DIs can indeed enforce the law as interpreted by the Supreme Court, providing a crucial, real-world blueprint for state drug departments across the country seeking to crack down on the supply chain of toxic products.
However, regulatory officers maintain that the path from legal right to effective action is blocked by severe operational constraints, chief among them the cumbersome procedural requirements for custody and remand, especially given the introduction of the new criminal laws, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. Field officers currently lack dedicated lock-up facilities, reliable police security during high-risk raids, and adequate assisting staff, turning the act of arresting a high-level perpetrator into an overwhelming logistical risk rather than a routine enforcement measure.
It is in this context of legal clarity battling operational gridlock that Sumanta Kumar Tiwari, the Joint Director-cum-Drug Controller (JDC) of Jharkhand, has formally submitted a comprehensive, urgent appeal to the Union government of India. Tiwari’s letter directly links the failure to prosecute drug offenders with the systemic issues that allowed the contaminated cough syrup to circulate, urging the government to furnish the necessary infrastructure to match the Supreme Court’s judicial mandate.
Beyond the immediate need for arrest powers, Tiwari’s submission advocates for a sweeping technological solution to fundamentally secure the drug supply chain, the mandatory use of a ‘Secured Serialized Advanced QR Code’ on every individual, customer-facing drug unit. This system, leveraging AI-powered traceability, would enable regulators and consumers alike to instantly verify the authenticity of a product, providing a crucial mechanism for isolating and recalling deadly batches before they reach vulnerable populations.
As the political and regulatory apparatus grapples with the fallout of the tragedy that claimed the lives of 21 children, the decision now rests with the Centre to provide the necessary support, be it dedicated police assistance, proper custody infrastructure, or the adoption of advanced traceability, to empower its drug inspectors.
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