Telangana High Court on Friday observed that the DGP’s status report did not mention if the police were maintaining cold chains to store the drugs or vaccines seized from hoarders.
Hearing a batch of PIL petitions on COVID-19, a bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy said the police must ensure that the seized drugs or vaccines were stored in cold storage at specified temperatures so that they can be administered to COVID-19 patients. The bench instructed the DGP and Public Health Director to explain in their next status reports the steps taken to maintain cold storage places. Once such drugs were seized, the police should be able to shift the same to the nearest cold storage point, the bench said.
When Advocate General B.S. Prasad informed the court that police had recovered 37 vials of vaccines/drugs and handed over the same to Drug Administration department, the CJ sought to know if the police stored them in cold storage immediately after seizure.
The bench remarked that there was “no specific response” to its earlier direction to police to crack whip on black-marketing of Remdesivir vials. It instructed the DGP to explain the steps taken to check black-marketing of the drugs, arrest of persons indulging in it and recovery of drugs. The bench also wanted the police personnel to get familiarised with the location Primary Heath Centres. In case of seizure of drugs or vaccines, the police should be able to shift them immediately to the nearest PHC. The bench sought to know from Advocate General B.S. Prasad if the police were provided with the location and addresses of the PHCs across the State. The bench instructed the government to inform it of the steps taken to curtail election rallies. It observed that no advisories or standard operating procedures to be followed at polling booths were issued in the backdrop of elections to urban local bodies including the municipal corporations.
