The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday deferred the hearing on the bail plea of Dr. Praveen Soni, a physician from Chhindwara who was arrested in connection with the deaths of 24 children allegedly caused by consumption of the now-banned cough syrup Coldrif. The matter could not be taken up due to paucity of time.
The bail plea came up before a single bench of Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal, but was not heard. Soni’s counsel, Pawan Shukla, told reporters that the plea is likely to be taken up on Friday.
Between late August and early September, 22 children in Chhindwara district and two in Betul died after consuming Coldrif cough syrup manufactured by a private pharmaceutical company, Sresan Pharma. The deceased were mostly under the age of five and reportedly suffered kidney failure following ingestion of the adulterated medicine.
A government laboratory found that one sample of Coldrif contained 48.6% diethylene glycol — a toxic industrial solvent — far exceeding the permissible limit of 0.1%. The substance has been linked to multiple mass poisonings in India and abroad.
Most of the children who died in Chhindwara had been prescribed the syrup by Dr. Soni, a government physician.
Following the deaths, Parasia police registered a case against Sresan Pharma, its owner G. Ranganathan (who was arrested from Tamil Nadu last week), Dr. Soni, and others under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Dr. Soni was subsequently arrested on allegations of negligence. The district court rejected his bail plea, citing the gravity of the offence, prompting him to move the High Court.
In his petition, Dr. Soni contended that his arrest was illegal because police did not seek prior permission from the medical board before initiating action against him, as required in cases involving registered doctors.
He maintained that he prescribed the syrup in good faith based on its licensed status. He also argued that he had no role in the manufacturing or marketing of the medicine, which had been approved by the competent drug authorities.
