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New Delhi: A Bill to enhance punishment for manufacturers of spurious and adulterated drugs was passed in the Rajya Sabha today.
The Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill 2005, which was passed in the Upper House through voice vote, has increased the quantum of minimum punishment from 5 years in prison to 10 years and also raised the fine from Rs 10,000 to a whopping Rs 10 lakh. The penalty will be for the manufacture and sale of spurious drugs which are likely to cause death and grievous injury to patients.
Defending non-inclusion of death penalty as a punishment for those manufacturing spurious drugs, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said, "We feel that this (punishment) is stringent enough. The government feels it is not necessary to have death penalty at this point of time". Earlier, participating in the brief discussion, BJP MP and former Union Health Minister C P Thakur sought provision of death penalty as a punishment for manufacturers of spurious drugs.
He said the original Bill, which was introduced during the NDA regime and could not be passed because of dissolution of 13th Lok Sabha, had the provision as a deterrent. "Earlier the minimum punishment was five years extendable to life imprisonment and minimum fine was Rs 10,000. We have increased the minimum punishment to 10 years and fine of Rs 10 lakh or three times the value of drugs confiscated, whichever is higher," Ramadoss said.
The Minister admitted the presence of spurious drugs in the market but assured the House that government would take all necessary steps to deal with the menace. "I am not denying that there are spurious drugs in the country...Government will go all out to do away with spurious drugs," he said. (PTI) | 
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