Connect database of medical stores with owner, pharmacists' Aadhaar: Allahabad HC

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to prepare a database of medical store owners and pharmacists, link it with their Aadhaar numbers and take action against unqualified persons.

The court gave the order to ascertain the genuineness of persons running medical stores in Uttar Pradesh and granted three months to the state to complete the task "after giving adequate opportunity to the shop owners".

The court asked the state authorities to take action against fictitious or unqualified persons running medical stores within the next month and furnish the report in the court thereafter.

The high courts Lucknow bench comprising Justice Sudhir Agrawal and Justice Virendra Kumar (II) gave the order on a PIL moved by Asha Mishra and others.

The petitioners alleged that the number of registered pharmacists are very few while registered medical retail shops are in large numbers.

"Under the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and rules framed there under it is mandatory that every retail shop must have a registered pharmacist who should remain present during the working time of shop but that is not actually happening," the PIL stated.

"A large number of either fictitious and unqualified persons or one person using his registration certificate in several shops, are looking after such shops but the state government has not taken any effective preventive steps," it said.

It was stated on behalf of the state government that a meeting was held yesterday, in which the government has decided to prepare a database of registered pharmacists and thereafter to proceed in the matter.

The court, however, said what has been done further is not clear.

"We, therefore, direct the state government that till it takes any further decision and lays down any other plan to ensure strict compliance of statutory provisions, let it complete the exercise of registering all pharmacists, in whose names retail medical shops have been registered, connected with their Aadhaar number," the bench said.

It directed the secretary of Medical, Health and Family Welfare department to issue necessary instructions to all Drug Inspectors and Drug Licensing officials concerned to bring to notice this requirement to all retail drug dealers and registered pharmacists.

The bench directed the state government to ensure that within one month after preparation of the database appropriate action is taken if any fictitious or unauthorised person is running retail medical shops.