Nearly thirty-five pharmaceutical companies in India have contributed Rs 1,000 crore to political parties through electoral bonds, as revealed by Election Commission data.
Of particular concern is the revelation that at least seven of these companies were under investigation for producing substandard drugs at the time of their bond purchases.
Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital emerged as the primary purchaser in the healthcare and pharma bond market, acquiring 162 bonds valued at ₹1 crore each, totaling ₹162 crore.
Following closely behind was Dr Reddy's Laboratories, purchasing 80 bonds also valued at ₹1 crore each, totaling ₹80 crores, as reported by CNBC TV18.
IT and ED raids:
Interestingly, Yashoda Hospital faced scrutiny from the Income Tax Department in December 2020, while Dr. Reddy's Laboratories encountered tax-related actions in November 2023.
Specifically, Dr. K Nagender Reddy of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories was targeted over allegations of tax evasion.
In the latest report compiled by a joint effort of Newslaundry, Scroll, and The News Minute, it was revealed that the Hyderabad-based Hetero Labs and Hetero Healthcare purchased electoral bonds totalling Rs 39 crore in April 2022.
In the next 10 months, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration issued six notices issued to the Hyderabad-based company for substandard drugs.
At least three of them pertained to Remdesivir, an antiviral drug widely used to treat COVID-19.
However the Telangana regulator did not act against Hetero.
In addition to the Rs 39 crore bonds Herero bought in 2022, the pharma company also purchased bonds worth Rs 10 crore in July 2023 and Rs 11 crore in October 2023, a total of bonds worth Rs 60 crore.
Hetero Pharma also faced I-T action in 2021, after the department found unaccounted income to the tune of ₹550 crore during raids against the group. So far, the department has seized over ₹142 crore in cash in raids, CBDT said in a statement in October 2021.
Drug firm Divi's Laboratories, which also faced I-T search operations between February 14 and 18, 2019, under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, to figures on the list. It bought bonds worth ₹55 crore.
Some of the other names in this space include that of Aurobindo Pharma Limited, which has made donations of over ₹50 crore. The ED arrested company director P Sarath Reddy in November 2022 in connection with the case.
Other big names:
Similarly, Torrent Pharma, based in Gujarat, purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 12.5 crore in May and October 2019, Rs 7.50 crore in April 2021, Rs 25 crore in January and October 2022, Rs 7 crore in October 2023, and Rs 25.5 crore in January 2024.
The company's antiplatelet medicine, Deplatt-150, failed drug test and was declared substandard by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration in 2018.
In October 2019, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to the firm for repeated quality-related failures at its manufacturing unit.
However, no action was taken by the Gujarat government against the pharmaceutical company.
Cipla received four show-cause notices for its drugs between 2018 and 2022 and has purchased bonds worth Rs 39.2 crore since 2019.
Zydus Healthcare, Glenmark, IPCA Laboratories Limited, and Intas Pharmaceuticals are among the other companies identified in the report for their electoral bond purchases.
In recent years, the global spotlight has turned to the pharmaceutical sector in India due to incidents of deaths and infections associated with cough syrups and eye ointments manufactured in the country, reported across multiple nations.
The relationship between political funding and regulatory oversight within the pharmaceutical sector underscores the urgent need for transparent and accountable governance.
In light of these revelations, demands for increased enforcement of drug quality standards and enhanced transparency in political funding have grown more fervent.
