The High Court of Jharkhand has reprimanded the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe black marketing of remdesivir, an anti-viral drug used in the treatment of COVID-19, for keeping it in the dark in making the Ranchi Rural superintendent of police a government witness in the case.
SP Naushad Alam’s name came up during the investigation as one of the accused persons claimed that he had arranged remdesivir for the IPS officer who wanted the medicine for a person.
Charge sheet has been filed against two persons in the case last month in the trial court.
A division Bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan and Justice SN Prasad on Friday directed the SIT chief Anil Palta, an Additional Director General of Police, to appear before it in person through video-conferencing on July 8, when the matter will be heard again.
The Bench said that filing of charge sheet against only two accused in the case raises serious questions when the name of the Ranchi Rural SP had come up in the case.
Stating that the SIT had been directed to submit the progress report of its investigation before the court, the Bench asked why it did not submit the report to the high court before filing the charge sheet as it is monitoring the case.
State Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan said that the SIT after completing the probe against the two accused has filed a charge sheet in the trial court and the investigation in the case is still on.
The Bench then directed that the order of the formation of the SIT, the case diary and the charge sheet be produced before it.
The CID had submitted the report of the investigation conducted in the Remdesivir black marketing case in Jharkhand to the high court. The matter was being investigated under the leadership of ADG Palta.
After the government transferred the ADG, the high court expressed strong displeasure. The SIT headed by Palta was then constituted.
