Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 11: A medicos’ body of Valley today demanded capital punishment for those involved in manufacture and sale of spurious drugs in the State instead of slapping Public Safety Act (PSA) as recommended by an Assembly panel.
The president of Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) Dr Nisar ul Hassan, while demanding the capital punishment, said: “Death penalty will act as a powerful deterrent and will effectively curb the menace of spurious drugs which is a grave crime as precious human lives are lost.”
Expressing dismay over recommendations of Legislative Assembly committee, the DAK president said that it is a mere eye wash as it is a preventive and not a punitive measure. “In view of serious implications of spurious drugs on public health, Drug and Cosmetic Act was amended in 2008 which contains stringent provisions such as maximum penalty for life imprisonment. The amended act has provisions to have special courts for handling spurious drug cases so that judicial proceedings can be expedited,” he said, adding: “Mashlekar committee in 2003 recommended enhancement of penalty for sale and manufacturing of spurious drugs from life imprisonment to death sentence as the menace endangers human safety.”
Hassan alleged that there is a deep rooted nexus between drug Mafia and shoddy pharmaceutical units that pump massive quantities of substandard drugs in the valley. “DAK exposed spurious drug scam in 2013 and since then hundreds of drugs have been declared spurious/ substandard, killing children and adults,” he said, adding, “The high number of infant deaths in GB Panth hospital in 2012 which were blamed to logistic issues were because of spurious drugs.”
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