Cough syrup deaths: SC junks PIL seeking court-monitored CBI probe into deaths of children in MP, Rajasthan

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL seeking a court-monitored CBI probe into deaths of around 22 children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan allegedly due to consumption of toxic cough syrups.

”Daily deaths are rising. Not the first instance of such adulterated medicine. States are blaming each other. Probe by one agency is needed,” petitioner advocate Vishal Tiwari told a Bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai.

However, the Bench rejected the PIL after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta objected to it, saying Tiwari was in the habit of filing petitions based on newspaper reports.

Clarifying that said he was not representing any state, Mehta said the seriousness with which Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh governments were taking actions cannot be undermined.

The Solicitor General sought to emphasise that there were proper law enforcement mechanisms in states to dear with the matter.

The Bench dismissed the PIL after Tiwari admitted of having filed eight to 10 PILs so far.

Tiwari had also demanded systemic reforms in drug safety mechanisms and constitution of a National Judicial Commission or Expert Committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to identify the regulatory failures that allowed substandard medicines to reach market.

The PIL had urged the top court to transfer all FIRs and investigations with regard to the deaths of children allegedly caused by toxic cough syrups across states to the CBI for a thorough probe under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge to ensure fairness and uniformity.

Separate state-level investigations have led to fragmented accountability, enabling repeated lapses that allow hazardous formulations to reach the market, he submitted.

The petition, which came amid reports of deaths of children from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan after they allegedly consumed cough syrup produced by a particular company, urged the court to mandate toxicological testing of all suspect products through NABL-accredited laboratories before any further sale or export was permitted.