The petitioners in all these petitions have called in

question proceedings in Crime No.82 of 2021 registered for

offences punishable under Section 420 of the IPC and Section

5(1) of the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020 (‘the Act’ for

short). Since all these petitions are by different accused in the

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very same crime number, they are taken up together and

disposed of by this common order.

2.

Heard the learned counsel appearing for the

petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader,

appearing for the respondent State.

Criminal Petition No.101702 of 2021:

3.

The petitioner is accused No.1. The facts that led to

registration of the aforesaid crime are common in all these

cases. It is the case respondent/prosecution that on 7.5.2021

when the Police were doing patrolling duty in the jurisdiction of

Cowl-Bazar Police Station, Ballari they received information that

some person is selling Remdesivir injection on his scooter to

public. On the said information, the Regional Deputy Drugs

Controller goes to the spot along with two panchas and sought

to apprehend the person who was allegedly selling Remdesivir

injection. At the time when the raid took place, it is the case of

the prosecution that when the petitioner tried to escape he was

arrested and enquired into. It was further alleged that the box

in the scooter was containing 6 boxes of Remdesivir injection of

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100 mg. The name of the injection was Remdesivir. The expiry

of the said injection was June 22 and MRP indicated was

Rs.3000/-. When an inquiry was made against the petitioner as

to why he was selling the said injection without the prescription

from the doctor, justification given by the petitioner was that he

received instructions from Sri Sai Hospital and Pola Covid Centre

that the patients therein were in need of Remdesivir injection.

Based upon the said incident and on the ground that accused

No.1 was selling the injection without prescription, proceedings

were instituted by registering a crime in Crime No.82 of 2021.

Criminal Petition No.101510 of 2021:

4.

The petitioner is accused No.2. The incident remains

the same. The allegations also remain the same. The petitioner

is a businessman and a stockiest of Remdesivir injection among

other things. He is brought in to these proceedings on the score

that he is a stockiest and suspicion is that injections that were

sold were out of the stock when he possessed. Therefore, other

factors with regard to raid conducted are not gone into.

Criminal Petition No.101470 of 2021:

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5.

The petitioners, two of them in this case are accused

3 and 4 owners of Pola hospital which had been converted into a

Covid centre owing to huge number of cases. They are strangely

dragged into these proceedings. There is no allegation against

these petitioners. No nexus with what accused 1 and 2 are

alleged to have. The only ground on which these petitioners are

dragged into these proceedings in the subject crime is that

based upon the incident of seizure of Remdesivir injection, a

notice was issued by the Police under Section 41A(1) of the

Cr.P.C. summoning the petitioners. Having summoned for the

purpose of conduct of inquiry, on the ground that the petitioners

did not co-operate they were arrested. After such arrest the

petitioners were also arrayed as accused 3 and 4 in the

aforesaid crime. It is thus the incident of selling Remdesivir

injection by accused No.1, stockiest and owners of Covid centre

are dragged into these proceedings. It is these proceedings that

are called in question by the petitioners in all these cases.

6.

The learned counsel Sri V.M.Sheelvant appearing for

the petitioners in Criminal Petition No.101470 of 2021 which

concerns accused 3 and 4 would submit that without there being

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an iota of allegation against the petitioners, they are simply

dragged into these proceedings only on the ground that the

petitioners did not co-operate with the inquiry. Section 420 or

the Act that are invoked in the case at hand can