SC rejects plea for probe into cough syrup-related deaths in some states
This story was originally published at 12:38 IST on 10 October 2025
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--SC rejects plea for probe into cough syrup-related deaths in some states
NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Friday rejected a public interest litigation seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and other states allegedly due to consumption of a cough syrup. Vishal Tiwari, the petitioner and an advocate, said that daily deaths were rising and this was not the first instance of such adulterated medicine. States are blaming each other and a probe by one agency is needed, said Tiwari.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said that Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and other states will take steps. "We cannot not trust the states. Of course, they will take steps," said Mehta.
Tiwari had sought the transfer of all pending first information reports relating to these deaths from all states to the Central Bureau of Investigation. He sought the apex court's directions to the government to constitute a National Judicial Commission or an expert committee, headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, to conduct a comprehensive enquiry into the manufacture, regulation, testing and distribution of contaminated cough syrups containing diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. The petitioner sought measures from the committee for the safety and standards of medicines.
He has also sought that the top court order the government to immediately recall, seize, and prohibit the sale and distribution of all batches of Coldrif cough syrup, manufactured by Sresan Pharma Pvt. Ltd., Kancheepuram, in Tamil Nadu, or any related companies pending toxicology clearance and verification of safety standards by independent laboratories.
The case pertains to at least 23 children dying of kidney failure after consuming a cough syrup branded Coldrif. The syrup contained the toxin diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit. Diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol was also found in Indian-made cough syrups that had killed at least 141 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan, and Cameroon since 2022, and another 12 children in India in 2019. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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