Prayagraj, February 16 The Allahabad High Court has denied bail to two accused in a case linked to the codeine-based cough syrup racket, observing that preparations containing codeine exceeding permissible limits attract the NDPS Act.
Justice Ashutosh Srivastava denied relief to Abdul Qadir and another accused on the grounds that a large quantity of illegally diverted codeine-based cough syrup was recovered from them.
"According to the court, the provisions for exemption must be strictly and literally complied with, and further that the conditions under which the exemption is granted must be strictly adhered to. Any violation of any condition would deprive the claimant of the exemption," Justice Srivastava observed in his order dated February 3.
"In this case, a large quantity of illegally diverted codeine-based cough syrup has been recovered, and thus the condition 'established in therapeutic practice' has been flagrantly violated, denying the applicants the exemption," the court said.
The accused were charged under sections 8/21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and sections 318(4), 338, 336(3) and 340 of the BNS at the Kotwali police station in Rampur district, for allegedly possessing 119 boxes containing 11,885 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup.
These bottles were recovered from them while loading the drug into a car.
The court heard that the applicants were licensed medicine dealers and had purchased the cough syrup through valid invoices. Apart from arguing that the applicants had no criminal record, it was submitted that the drug inspector had no authority to collect and seal samples.
The court observed that "codeine" (methylmorphine) and its salts have been listed as a manufactured drug at item no. 35 in the Central government notification dated November 14, 1985.
An exception was only granted to codeine if it was used in therapeutic practice and if it was used in less than 100 milligrams in a dosage and with a concentration of not more than 2.5 per cent in undivided preparations, it said.
The court held that the applicants had violated the exception provided in the above notification and were therefore ineligible to claim the benefit of it.
Noting that 11,885 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup were recovered from the accused applicants, the court said, "There is no reason to falsely implicate the accused. Therefore, there is no good reason to release the accused on bail at this stage."
"All the arguments raised by the counsel for the applicants pertain to the merits of the case, and these cannot be considered when considering an application for bail. This court is unable to form an opinion at this stage that the accused have not committed an offence," it said.