In Brief
A pharmaceutical company (Laborate Pharmaceuticals) was prosecuted under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act for allegedly selling substandard Cherry Lab Cough Syrup. The manufacturer sought to have the sample re-analysed by the Central Drug Laboratory, but this request was rejected as being outside the 28-day statutory window. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that the manufacturer's statutory right to re-analysis cannot be forfeited when delays result from prosecution defaults—specifically, the failure to timely furnish the sample to the manufacturer and the Court's delay in taking cognizance. Moreover, by the time cognizance was taken in 2015, the drug's shelf life had expired, rendering any re-analysis meaningless and the prosecution unviable.
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