The Andhra Pradesh Pharmacy Council president’s office in Hyderabad has been locked since past one month as the High Court had issued a stay order on the issue of election of Annapa R Vijay Reddy as president of the council.

The earlier president of APPC Venkat Reddy, petitioned in the court alleging that, the present president Annapa R Vijay Reddy and the then registrar Satyanarayana had connived each other and violated the rules and norms and had gone against the council’s act and conducted mid-term elections fraudulently for the president’s post, even before the tenure of Venkat Reddy is yet to be completed in the year 2013.

Following this, the court had directed the government to conduct a through enquiry in to the matter and submit a report before it. In the meanwhile the administrative officials of the council had locked the president’s room until the issue is resolved.

As per the information received from the sources, there was an election held in the year 2009 under the supervision of returning officer Chandravadan and elected Venkat Reddy as president and six others as committee members of the council. But due to internal fighting between two parties in the council and with the influence of drug traders mafia the earlier council was dissolved and re-elections were conducted again in 2010. It is believed that E V V Satyanarayana, the earlier registrar, had acted hand in glove with Annapa Reddy and was instrumental in accepting the forged resignation letters of the earlier president and the 5 committee members of the council even before they completed their term.

With this development, the state government appointed K V S N Gupta, Asst. Drug controller, as in-charge registrar of the council to conduct the day to day activities of registrations and renewals without any inconvenience to the public at the council’s office. The government had also appointed Parthasarthy, principal secretary to government of Andhra Pradesh to look after the administrative activities of the council.

Every day hundreds of students and pharmacy owners and druggists come to the council’ office to either to get registered or to get renewed their certificates. It is mandatory that each and every pharmacy graduate or diploma holder should get registered his membership at the council to be eligible for either appointed at any stores or to get license for establishing a pharmacy store.

It is also learnt from the sources that the Annapa Reddy had fraudulently siphoned off Rs.88 lakhs collected as registration fee and renewal fee from the people by hiking the fee 10 times i.e., from Rs.560 to Rs.5600 since he took charge as president from January 2011. It is also reveled from the records that lakhs of public money has been misused and spent for personal purposes. It is believed that more than 2500 students and pharmacy store owners have paid Rs.5600 as registration and renewal fees in cash; while the rules say that the council should accept all kinds of fees only through a demand draft.

“We are expecting that the court will deliver its verdict very soon probably by next month, based on that we are planning to take necessary steps to revamp the entire system and will install online system of registrations. I also appeal to the people who are coming to the office for renewal, it is not compulsory for an individual to appear in person for getting renewals, they can send in their application with all enclosures through register post and we will renew it and resend back to their addresses,” said K V S N Gupta, in-charge registrar, APPC.