Paonta Sahib firm gets relief in NDPS court case, state drug officials demand status report

The state drug authorities have sought a status report from Vidit Healthcare, based in Paonta Sahib, after its manufacturing operations came under scrutiny by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

In August last year, an NCB team in Jammu had arrested Neeraj Bhatia, one of the owners of Vidit Healthcare, a codeine syrup manufacturing firm. The NCB had unearthed the nefarious sale of codeine-based syrup when a resident of Pahalgam was found in possession of a large quantity of syrup Cocrex without proper authorisation. Since Vidit Healthcare had manufactured the syrup, it came under scrutiny by various agencies.

However, the firm received a major relief as a Special Judge of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court in Jammu discharged Neeraj Bhatia in its order dated December 13, 2024. The court observed that the batch of codeine seized by the NCB was purchased from Vidit Healthcare through a formal purchase order, with proper billing and was manufactured under a valid drug licence issued by the Drug Controller, New Delhi.

Bhatia said that he would present a copy of the NCB court order of December 2024 to the state drug authorities, which had sought an update on both NCB and ED cases. He added that the NCB court had discharged him.

The court, in its order that The Tribune had accessed, observed that the concentration of codeine in the Cocrex cough syrup was only 0.2 per cent, which was below the 2.5 per cent threshold. This indicated that it was a drug manufactured for therapeutic use, rather than a narcotic substance. Therefore, the provisions of the NDPS Act did not apply in the case.

The court had noted that the Cocrex cough syrup was a prescription drug and should only be provided upon prescription from a registered medical practitioner.

Below threshold

The NDPS Act court in Jammu had observed that the concentration of codeine in the Cocrex cough syrup was only 0.2 per cent, which was below the 2.5 per cent threshold