For the expeditious disposal of cases related to manufacturing and marketing of spurious drugs in the country, the Union Health Ministry will soon set up special courts for trial of offenses falling under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. In the first phase, the special courts will be set up at major cities and at the pharma clusters across the country.

“We will soon be taking up with the respective authorities for setting up of designated special courts for trial of offenses under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. To begin with, special courts will be set up in cities and districts where there is a concentration of pharmaceutical industry,” a senior health ministry official said. In the first phase, the courts may be set up in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The ministry has already started initiatives in this regard.

The Union Health Ministry had recently amended the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 to incorporate stringent penal provisions for various offenses including manufacturing and marketing of spurious drugs. Under the amendment, maximum penalty has been enhanced to life imprisonment for manufacturing and marketing spurious drugs. Besides, fine has also been enhanced to Rs 10 lakh or three times the value of the spurious drugs confiscated, whichever is more.

Ever since the amendment was notified by the ministry on August 10 last year, the pharma industry has been up in arms against several provisions in the Act, especially the powers vested in the hands of the drug inspectors. The industry fears that some provisions in the Act will be misused by the drug authorities to harass even the genuine drug manufacturers. Industry fears that since manufacturing and marketing of spurious drugs is a non-bailable and cognizable offense under the new amendments in the Act, there is a possibility of even genuine manufacturers getting arrested for no faults of theirs. And by the time they prove their innocence in the court, it may be years.

Under this context, the setting up of special courts will go a long way in allaying the fears of the industry.