The Allahabad High Court on Friday dismissed a batch of writ petitions challenging multiple FIRs registered in connection with the illegal storage and distribution of codeine-based cough syrups in Uttar Pradesh and seeking a stay on arrests in the matter.
The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Achal Sachdev.
The writ petitions were filed by Virendra Lal Verma and others, who sought quashing of FIRs lodged against them at Varanasi and other police stations across the state. The petitioners also prayed for protection from arrest during the pendency of the investigation.
The FIRs form part of a wider probe initiated by the Uttar Pradesh government into the alleged illegal diversion, storage, and sale of highly regulated codeine-based cough syrups.
Following the detection of the alleged racket, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive probe. The SIT is headed by an officer of Inspector General rank and includes officials from the Food and Drug Safety Authority (FDSA).
The SIT has been tasked with examining financial transactions, tracing the diversion of medicines from authorised supply chains, and connecting all leads emerging from the accused persons.
According to the state government, the investigation has uncovered a network of major “super-stockists” allegedly involved in the illegal trade of codeine-laced syrups. Three of the five key super-stockists — Bhola Jaiswal from Varanasi, Vibhor Rana from Saharanpur, and Saurabh Tyagi from Ghaziabad — have been arrested. Action is stated to be underway against the remaining two accused.
So far, around 3.5 lakh bottles of cough syrup, valued at approximately Rs 4.5 crore, have been seized. A total of 32 persons associated with the illegal trade have been taken into custody.
The probe has also revealed evidence suggesting that consignments of the cough syrups were trafficked across the India–Nepal and India–Bangladesh borders. Authorities are verifying financial transactions and money trails linked to the network, with the Enforcement Directorate conducting parallel investigations.
The Uttar Pradesh government has clarified that no casualties have been reported in the state due to consumption of the codeine-laced syrups. Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna had earlier stated that the investigation had exposed an organised and large-scale diversion of regulated medicines.
With the High Court declining to interfere at this stage, the investigation into the alleged codeine cough syrup racket is set to continue across multiple agencies.
