NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has ordered a man to stand trial for allegedly possessing over 4,300 kg of codeine-based cough syrup, an amount the prosecution said far exceeded the one-kg commercial quantity limit prescribed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Special Judge Jitendra Pratap Singh ordered framing of charges against accused Vipin Chawla under the NDPS Act, observing that a prima facie case was made out and the material on record raised “grave suspicion” against him.
In an order passed on July 30, the judge rejected Chawla’s contention that he was merely a manager at Surya Pharma and that the stock was being returned to the supplier following a government ban on certain codeine combinations. He had also claimed the firm possessed valid licences.
“The recovery is of a quantity far beyond the commercial quantity prescribed under the NDPS Act. This circumstance, by itself, is a strong incriminating factor at the stage of charge,” the judge said. The court noted that forensic reports linked Chawla to the procurement of the contraband through his signatures on questioned invoices. It also observed that the premises where the drugs were stored were unlicensed.
According to the prosecution, Delhi Police’s Special Cell raided a shop in Azadpur in 2023, recovering 302 boxes containing 36,238 bottles of 100 ml codeine cough syrup. It alleged that while 48,818 bottles had been supplied to the accused, records for the remaining 12,580 bottles were unavailable.