Bail plea of man accused of illegal sale of Remdesivir amid COVID-19 pandemic rejected

Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) A sessions court here has refused bail to a man accused of illegally selling Remdesivir medicine without licence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bail plea of Sameer Khan, who has been in jail for over three years now, was rejected by additional sessions judge Abhay Avinash Joglekar.
Khan had sought release on parity, citing the recent bail granted to co-accused Kishor Gupta by the Bombay High Court. However, the session court ruled that Khan is not entitled to the same benefit.
On Khan's contention of prolonged detention, the court noted that the charges against him carry a potential life imprisonment sentence. The benefit of long incarceration can only be considered after the accused has served half of the prescribed punishment, it said.
A case was registered against Khan in 2021 by the cyber police under Indian Penal Code for cheating and forgery.
As per the prosecution, Cipla Limited, a pharmaceutical company engaged in the production and sale of Remdesivir, had alleged that certain unknown individuals were selling the medicines without authorizations and licence amid the pandemic.
These individuals were cheating the general public by taking online orders and accepting money, it said.
Khan has been accused of receiving payments for the illegal sales in his account and instructing a co-accused to open an account for transactions.
Khan claimed he was a victim of circumstance and that his family was suffering due to his three-year detention.
He further added the mastermind of the offence is still absconding. Khan, in his plea, also claimed no case is made out under Drugs and Cosmetics Act as the role attributed to him is not stated to have manufactured such drugs.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)