Need To Have Unifrom Policy To Invoke PASA In Remdesivir Illegal Procurement, Distribution Cases: Gujarat High Court To Govt

Questioning the State Government over the invocation of the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) in cases of unauthorized procurement and distribution of Remdesivir injections, the Gujarat High Court last week asked the State Government to come up with a uniform policy to invoke the stringent law in such cases.

The Bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay also raised doubts over the registration of FIRs and invocation of PASA in such cases and termed it a tactic to divert people's attention when they were angry over the situation in which they weren't able to get the medicine.

Dealing with the case in hand, the court stayed the pre-detention order against one Nitesh Joshi, who was arrested and lodged in jail for allegedly selling fake Remdesivir injections.

The Court also kept on hinting at the distribution of 5,000 Remdesivir injections in Surat by a political party.

In this backdrop, the Court called for a uniform policy for invocation of PASA and observed thus:

"It is noted that, from different districts either detention orders are passed or are stated to be in contemplation in connection with the FIRs, many of which are filed by the police on secret information pertaining to illegalities in procurement and distribution of Ramdesivir injunctions. Though the detaining Authority may be different in different districts, illegalities in procurement and distribution of Ramdesivir injunctions is such an issue, where some uniformity at the State level is required, so that such an issue can be responded by the district Authorities in a uniform manner."

"This may also lead to a question, whether the State Government is willing to resort to such stringent measures uniformly qua all the accused / citizen in all cases, without being influenced by the position of the concerned person, where complaints have come for alleged illegalities in the procurement and distribution of Ramdesivir injunctions in an unauthorized manner," the Court observed while seeking State Government's response on this issue.

Read also: Lockdown Was Imposed Suddenly, Migrants Labourers Had No Money & Food But They Were Put In Jails: Gujarat HC Calls Them 'Victim'

Case title - Nitesh Kailashkumar Joshi v. State Of Gujarat & Police Commissioners, Ahmedabad & Vadodara

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