The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday a PIL
seeking inquiry and systemic reform in drug safety mechanisms in the wake of
deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan allegedly due to consumption
of toxic cough syrups.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and
Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and K Vinod Chandran took note of the submissions of PIL
petitioner and lawyer Vishal Tiwari that the plea needed an urgent hearing.
The bench agreed to hear the plea on October 10.
The plea seeks a court-monitored probe into the
incidents and urges the constitution of a National Judicial Commission or
Expert Committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.
The PIL requests that all pending FIRs and
investigations concerning the deaths of children caused by toxic cough syrups
across states be transferred to the CBI.
It seeks a probe under the supervision of a retired
Supreme Court judge to ensure fairness and uniformity.
The petition contends that separate state-level
investigations have led to fragmented accountability, enabling repeated lapses
that allow hazardous formulations to reach the market.
The petition comes amid reports from Madhya Pradesh
and Rajasthan, where several children died allegedly after consuming a
particular kind of cough syrup.
The plea seeks court's direction to the central
government to identify the regulatory failures that allowed substandard
medicines to reach the market.
It also urged the court to mandate toxicological
testing of all suspect products through NABL-accredited laboratories before any
further sale or export is permitted.