Court Questions Gujarat Over PASA Act In Remdesivir Black Marketing Case

The Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act is generally used against habitual offenders. Under the Act, habitual offenders can be held in preventive detention on orders of district magistrate for up to one year.

The Gujarat High Court on Monday asked the state government not to scare the public using provisions of a tough law against anti-social activities for possessing a few Remdesivir injections, while passing off the act of a political party distributing 5,000 vials of the COVID-19 drug to be in "accordance with the law". The Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act is generally used against habitual offenders. Under the Act, habitual offenders can be held in preventive detention on orders of district magistrate for up to one year. Hearing the plea of one Mitesh Thakkar, a doctor from Vadodara who apprehends detention under the PASA Act on the basis of an FIR filed for alleged black marketing of Remdesivir, Justice Paresh Upadhyay observed that if the government is going to handle the situation arising out of the second wave of COVID-19 like this, then where will the public go. "If you are doing this qua (in capacity of) one or two injections, then I will have to ask the question of 5,000 injections. If a political party wants to do charity in good faith (by distributing injections to the needy), then everything is in accordance with law? And PASA for two Remdesivir injections concerning a doctor?" he asked.