Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Penal powers for Drug Inspectors under study

CHENNAI: The Health Department, in association with the Directorate of Drug Control, is considering providing penal powers to Drug Inspectors. The hand of the government was literally forced, in the light of the recent hauls and delays in apprehending the kingpins of the fake drug circulation racket.

Speaking to TheHindu, Principal Secretary, Health, V.K. Subburaj, said measures would soon be in place to grant some amount of penal powers to Drug Inspectors to apprehend, at least initially, members of any fake/spurious drugs racket.

In the recent case, where a person identified as the king pin (Sanjay Kumar) of a racket altering the expiry date on drugs in order to bring them back into circulation, escaped even after evidence of his involvement was collected.

“The Drug Inspectors will have to inform the police and file a case in the court, as per procedure,” explained M. Bhaskaran, Director, Drug Control.

Suspects could be questioned but not detained by the drug inspectors.

A number of States have, for a long while, been petitioning the Centre for more powers to Drug Inspectors, Mr. Subburaj said. “We are looking at some sort of quasi-judicial powers, perhaps. Legal opinion will be sought and the experience of other nations studied in detail before changes are made.”

Integrated law enforcement is under way in other countries to combat counterfeit drugs. For instance, the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) strategy has, for the past three years, included an Enforcement and Intelligence Group, comprising investigative specialists, prosecutors and support staff, with powers to enter business and private property and seize articles under suspicion. It also provides in-house training to police.

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