Bihar: Petition filed against Nitish Kumar, Harsh Vardhan for supplying 'fake medicine' in hospitals

A petition was filed in a court of Chief Judicial Magistrate on Tuesday against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and others, for supplying "fake medicine" in the hospitals, which the petitioner alleged has claimed the lives of hundreds of people in Bihar.

The petition, which was filed by Advocate Pankaj, claimed that the medicines in the hospitals are prescribed to the patients without getting them tested from central and state laboratories.

It also alleged that the generic medicines provided to the patients have a shelf life of 6 months, however, they are given to the patients one to two years after its expiry.

The negligence on the part of the government has claimed the lives of hundreds of people, the petition stated.

The petitioner requested the court to take cognizance of the matter and take action against the accused under section 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant), 467 (Forgery of valuable security), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (Using as genuine a forged document) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The matter is slated to be heard on June 26. This came in the backdrop of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, which has claimed the lives of over 100 children.