Mumbai, March 11 A sessions court here has quashed notices issued by a magistrate against two directors of Amazon Seller Services Private Limited for the illegal online sale of abortion pills, stating that Amazon was only a platform and not the seller, while deeming the lower court's order "perverse".
Additional sessions judge Mujibodeen Shaikh, in an order dated February 4, made available on Wednesday, stated that the order issued by the magistrate's court was "perverse, grossly erroneous, and cryptic" as it did not follow the procedure mandated in law.
"Amazon is not the seller but is a platform. Gurunanak Enterprises, registered with Amazon, is the seller of the tablets on the Amazon platform," it said.
The court noted that Amazon had entered into an agreement with Gurunanak Enterprises, which specifically mentioned that prohibited drugs should not be kept for sale.
Kandula Raghava Rao and Noorulamin Mohammed Saheb, directors of Amazon Seller Services Private Limited (ASSPL), had challenged a notice issued by a magistrate court based on a complaint by the Food and Drugs Administration for alleged violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Information Technology Act.
The complainant placed the order for abortion tablets on the Amazon platform, which purportedly did not ask for a doctor's prescription and delivered the pills.
According to the complaint lodged against Gurunanak Enterprises as well as ASSPL directors, abortion pills displayed with the names "Woman Abortion Pills" and "Safe Abort Tablets" were available on the portal of the e-retail giant.
Rao and Saheb challenged the magistrate's order on the ground that it was illegal, arguing that the magistrate should have carried out an inquiry himself or directed the police.
They further claimed that the magistrate's order was cryptic, vague, and lacked valid reasons.
While quashing the "perverse, grossly erroneous and cryptic" order of the magistrate's court, sessions court judge Shaikh noted that it did not follow the procedure mandated in law.
The magistrate should have postponed the issuance of the notice and directed an investigation by the police or inquired into the case himself, the sessions court said.