Mohali: Two Pharma Firm Owners Booked For Misleading FDA

Mohali, 14 Aug 2018: Two businessmen, dealing in medicines used for drug de-addiction, were booked by Kharar police on Sunday. The accused duo, based in Amritsar, are brothers and directors of a private firm. They were booked on charges of misleading the Punjab Food and Drug Administration department to get a certificate to sell medicines for drug de-addiction patients. The accused were also booked by Amritsar (Rural) police in July and even convicted for three years under Drugs and Cosmetics Act by a Hisar (Haryana) court in 2014.

According to information, the directors of Willmard Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, Rajeev Bhardwaj and Rajan Bhardwaj, were booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Gharinda Police Station in Amritsar district on July 3. The case was registered after an inquiry was conducted by Amritsar (Rural) police and anti-drug Special Task Force (STF) of Punjab Police.

Investigation revealed that the Bhardwaj brothers had concealed facts while applying for Retention Application, which is a form to apply for renewal of license to sell or manufacture medicines, at the office of the Assistant Commissioner, FDA, Kharar.

The inquiry team of Amritsar (Rural) police and STF found that the accused duo did not mention in the application that they had been convicted by Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Sudeep Goel in Hisar (Haryana) on January 31, 2014, for three years. 

Both the accused filed an appeal against their conviction which was also dismissed by the Hisar court on January 18. The police said it was evident that he accused brothers hid the vital facts to get the license from the food and drugs department to sell medicines manufactured by their firm.

After the facts came to light during the inquiry conducted by Amritsar (Rural) police and STF that the accused brothers had concealed the facts in their application to get the licence from Kharar where the FDA office is located, the Amritsar police also registered a Zero FIR at Gharinda PS and sent a letter to Mohali police to register a case against the Bhardwaj brothers as the crime was committed in Kharar, the place where the duo had applied for licence.

Acting on information given by Amritsar police, a case under sections 420 (cheating) and 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Kharar (City) PS against the Bhardwaj brothers.The Indian Express