Enforce stricter penalties for fake medicines and adulterated food in India
The Issue
STOP FAKE MEDICINES & ADULTERATED FOOD FROM DESTROYING LIVES — DEMAND TOUGHER LAWS NOW
A National Appeal to the Parliament of India
Imagine a mother giving her sick child a medicine prescribed by a doctor.
She trusts the doctor.
She trusts the pharmacy.
She trusts the packaging.
She trusts the law.
But what if the medicine is fake?
Imagine a father buying milk for his children.
He believes he is buying nutrition.
But what if that milk is adulterated?
A counterfeit mobile phone can be replaced.
A fake product can be returned.
Money can be recovered.
But a life lost because of a fake medicine can never be recovered.
This petition calls upon the Parliament of India and the Government of India to urgently strengthen India's laws against the deliberate manufacture, distribution and sale of spurious medicines, counterfeit life-saving drugs and seriously adulterated food, particularly where such offences are committed knowingly, deliberately or as part of an organised criminal activity.
THIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY THAT DESERVES OUR ATTENTION
The Government of India has reported that 1,593 samples were classified as spurious/adulterated during drug testing between 2020–21 and 2024–25.
In 2024–25 alone, 245 drug samples were reported as spurious/adulterated, alongside thousands of samples found to be Not of Standard Quality.
The Government also reported that prosecutions relating to the manufacture, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs increased from 236 in 2020–21 to 961 in 2024–25.
These are not merely numbers.
Behind every unsafe medicine is a potential patient.
Behind every adulterated food product is a potential family.
And behind every dangerous product intended for children is a child who has no ability to protect themselves.
THE FOOD WE FEED OUR CHILDREN MUST NEVER BECOME A SOURCE OF FEAR
According to Government data, between 2022–23 and 2024–25, authorities analysed more than 5.18 lakh food samples.
During this period:
88,192 cases resulted in penalties.
3,614 cases resulted in convictions.
1,161 food licences were cancelled.
These figures demonstrate the enormous scale of food-safety enforcement activity in India and the continuing need for strong regulatory vigilance.
We must ask a simple question:
How much harm must occur before deliberate adulteration is treated with the seriousness it deserves?
A FAKE LIFE-SAVING MEDICINE IS NOT AN ORDINARY COUNTERFEIT
When someone deliberately manufactures a fake medicine, they are not merely cheating a customer.
They are potentially interfering with someone's treatment at the moment that person may be fighting for their life.
A patient suffering from a serious illness may have only one expectation:
“The medicine I have been prescribed will actually contain what it claims to contain.”
That expectation must be protected.
A medicine is not an ordinary commodity.
It can determine whether a patient receives effective treatment or not.
CHILDREN ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE
Children cannot inspect a medicine.
They cannot read a laboratory report.
They cannot determine whether the milk placed before them is genuine.
They depend entirely upon adults, manufacturers, regulators and the law to protect them.
That is why deliberate adulteration of food, milk, infant products or paediatric medicines should be treated with the utmost seriousness.
Our children should never become victims of someone's greed.
WE NEED TOUGHER AND MORE CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES
We call upon Parliament to urgently review and strengthen the relevant provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and other applicable laws.
We request Parliament to consider the following reforms:
1. MINIMUM 20 YEARS' IMPRISONMENT FOR THE MOST SERIOUS OFFENCES
For deliberate and aggravated offences involving the manufacture, trafficking or distribution of spurious life-saving medicines, particularly where the offence causes death or grievous harm, Parliament should consider imprisonment of at least 20 years, with punishment determined by a competent court after investigation and due judicial process.
For the most extreme cases involving intentional conduct resulting in death, Parliament should also examine whether the highest penalties permissible under India's constitutional and criminal-law framework are warranted.
2. PERMANENT CANCELLATION OF LICENCES AFTER FINAL CONVICTION
A person or business finally convicted of deliberately manufacturing or distributing seriously spurious medicines or severely adulterated food should face permanent disqualification from holding the relevant licence, subject to the safeguards of law and judicial review.
3. NO ESCAPE THROUGH A NEW COMPANY OR BENAMI ARRANGEMENT
A convicted offender should not be able to simply close one company and start another business under a different name.
The law should strengthen mechanisms dealing with:
beneficial ownership;
nominee directors;
related entities;
shell companies;
licence transfers;
and other methods of circumventing regulatory disqualification.
4. STRONGER ACTION AGAINST ORGANised CRIMINAL NETWORKS
Where investigations establish that manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, financiers or intermediaries knowingly participate in an organised network dealing in spurious medicines or seriously adulterated food, enhanced penalties should be considered.
5. FAST-TRACK INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION
Cases involving deliberate manufacture or distribution of dangerous medicines and food should receive priority investigation.
Justice delayed in such cases can mean that the same network continues operating while the legal proceedings continue.
6. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE AFTER FINAL CONVICTION
After final conviction and completion of applicable legal procedures, the Government should consider maintaining a publicly accessible database containing:
name of convicted individual/entity;
nature of offence;
product involved;
regulatory action;
conviction;
sentence;
licence cancellation/disqualification.
Publication of photographs and other identifying information should be considered within a clear statutory framework protecting due process and applicable privacy rights.
7. STRONGER TRACEABILITY
India should expand technology-based traceability for high-risk medicines and food products:
Manufacturer → Distributor → Wholesaler → Retailer → Consumer
Consumers should have a simple method to verify the authenticity of critical medicines.
8. PROTECTION FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS
Employees, pharmacists, doctors, distributors, food workers and citizens who expose organised adulteration and counterfeit networks should receive meaningful protection from retaliation.
9. STRONGER TESTING INFRASTRUCTURE
Government laboratories and State enforcement agencies should receive the resources, technology and manpower necessary for rapid detection and action against dangerous products.
10. SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN
Food, milk, infant nutrition products and paediatric medicines should receive the highest level of risk-based regulatory scrutiny.
PUNISH THE CRIMINAL — NOT THE INNOCENT
This petition is not asking for punishment merely because someone is accused.
It is not asking for innocent relatives to be punished because of their family relationship.
It is demanding something much more fundamental:
INVESTIGATE PROPERLY.
PROVE THE CRIME.
FOLLOW DUE PROCESS.
THEN PUNISH THE GUILTY SEVERELY.
At the same time, the law must prevent convicted offenders from escaping permanent disqualification by placing their businesses in the names of nominees, associates or related entities.
Justice must be both strong and fair.
WE MUST STOP TREATING HUMAN LIFE AS A BUSINESS EXPENSE
There is something profoundly wrong when someone can look at a life-saving medicine and see only a profit margin.
There is something profoundly wrong when adulteration becomes a business strategy.
There is something profoundly wrong when the cheapest possible ingredient is deliberately substituted for something that a human being is depending upon.
And there is something profoundly wrong if criminals believe that the financial rewards of adulteration outweigh the consequences of getting caught.
THE LAW MUST CHANGE THAT CALCULATION.
THIS PETITION IS ABOVE POLITICS
This is not a petition against any political party.
It is not a petition for one government or against another.
It is a demand for stronger protection of human life, irrespective of which government is in power.
Every Indian deserves the same basic assurance:
THE MEDICINE WE BUY MUST BE GENUINE.
THE FOOD WE FEED OUR CHILDREN MUST BE SAFE.
AND THOSE WHO DELIBERATELY ENDANGER LIVES FOR PROFIT MUST FACE CONSEQUENCES PROPORTIONATE TO THE CRIME.
OUR DEMAND TO THE PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
We respectfully request the Parliament of India to:
URGENTLY REVIEW INDIA'S EXISTING LAWS.
STRENGTHEN PENALTIES FOR DELIBERATE AND AGGRAVATED SPURIOUS-DRUG AND FOOD-ADULTERATION OFFENCES.
CONSIDER A MINIMUM 20-YEAR IMPRISONMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE MOST SERIOUS PROVEN OFFENCES.
PROVIDE FOR PERMANENT REGULATORY DISQUALIFICATION AFTER FINAL CONVICTION.
PREVENT CONVICTED OFFENDERS FROM CIRCUMVENTING DISQUALIFICATION THROUGH NEW ENTITIES OR NOMINEES.
STRENGTHEN TRACEABILITY, TESTING, INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION.
PROTECT WHISTLEBLOWERS.
GIVE CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE PATIENTS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF PROTECTION.
TO EVERY INDIAN READING THIS:
You may never know who will need a life-saving medicine tomorrow.
It could be your mother.
Your father.
Your husband.
Your wife.
Your brother.
Your sister.
Your friend.
Or your child.
And when that moment comes, you should not have to wonder whether the medicine in your hand is real.
You should not have to become a laboratory technician before feeding your child.
You should be able to trust the system.
You should be able to trust the product.
You should be able to trust the law.
LET US DEMAND THAT TRUST.
LET US DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY.
LET US DEMAND STRONGER LAWS.
BECAUSE A HUMAN LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN A CRIMINAL'S PROFIT.
SIGN THIS PETITION.
SHARE IT WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
LET THIS MESSAGE REACH THE PARLIAMENT OF INDIA.
SAVE LIVES. STOP DELIBERATE ADULTERATION. STRENGTHEN THE LAW.
IMPORTANT SOURCES
Government of India — Drug quality and spurious/adulterated drug data:
https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/187/AU1325_DSZtEj.pdf
Government of India — Food-safety enforcement data:
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2241083
Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation — Drug alerts:
11
The Issue
STOP FAKE MEDICINES & ADULTERATED FOOD FROM DESTROYING LIVES — DEMAND TOUGHER LAWS NOW
A National Appeal to the Parliament of India
Imagine a mother giving her sick child a medicine prescribed by a doctor.
She trusts the doctor.
She trusts the pharmacy.
She trusts the packaging.
She trusts the law.
But what if the medicine is fake?
Imagine a father buying milk for his children.
He believes he is buying nutrition.
But what if that milk is adulterated?
A counterfeit mobile phone can be replaced.
A fake product can be returned.
Money can be recovered.
But a life lost because of a fake medicine can never be recovered.
This petition calls upon the Parliament of India and the Government of India to urgently strengthen India's laws against the deliberate manufacture, distribution and sale of spurious medicines, counterfeit life-saving drugs and seriously adulterated food, particularly where such offences are committed knowingly, deliberately or as part of an organised criminal activity.
THIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY THAT DESERVES OUR ATTENTION
The Government of India has reported that 1,593 samples were classified as spurious/adulterated during drug testing between 2020–21 and 2024–25.
In 2024–25 alone, 245 drug samples were reported as spurious/adulterated, alongside thousands of samples found to be Not of Standard Quality.
The Government also reported that prosecutions relating to the manufacture, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs increased from 236 in 2020–21 to 961 in 2024–25.
These are not merely numbers.
Behind every unsafe medicine is a potential patient.
Behind every adulterated food product is a potential family.
And behind every dangerous product intended for children is a child who has no ability to protect themselves.
THE FOOD WE FEED OUR CHILDREN MUST NEVER BECOME A SOURCE OF FEAR
According to Government data, between 2022–23 and 2024–25, authorities analysed more than 5.18 lakh food samples.
During this period:
88,192 cases resulted in penalties.
3,614 cases resulted in convictions.
1,161 food licences were cancelled.
These figures demonstrate the enormous scale of food-safety enforcement activity in India and the continuing need for strong regulatory vigilance.
We must ask a simple question:
How much harm must occur before deliberate adulteration is treated with the seriousness it deserves?
A FAKE LIFE-SAVING MEDICINE IS NOT AN ORDINARY COUNTERFEIT
When someone deliberately manufactures a fake medicine, they are not merely cheating a customer.
They are potentially interfering with someone's treatment at the moment that person may be fighting for their life.
A patient suffering from a serious illness may have only one expectation:
“The medicine I have been prescribed will actually contain what it claims to contain.”
That expectation must be protected.
A medicine is not an ordinary commodity.
It can determine whether a patient receives effective treatment or not.
CHILDREN ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE
Children cannot inspect a medicine.
They cannot read a laboratory report.
They cannot determine whether the milk placed before them is genuine.
They depend entirely upon adults, manufacturers, regulators and the law to protect them.
That is why deliberate adulteration of food, milk, infant products or paediatric medicines should be treated with the utmost seriousness.
Our children should never become victims of someone's greed.
WE NEED TOUGHER AND MORE CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES
We call upon Parliament to urgently review and strengthen the relevant provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and other applicable laws.
We request Parliament to consider the following reforms:
1. MINIMUM 20 YEARS' IMPRISONMENT FOR THE MOST SERIOUS OFFENCES
For deliberate and aggravated offences involving the manufacture, trafficking or distribution of spurious life-saving medicines, particularly where the offence causes death or grievous harm, Parliament should consider imprisonment of at least 20 years, with punishment determined by a competent court after investigation and due judicial process.
For the most extreme cases involving intentional conduct resulting in death, Parliament should also examine whether the highest penalties permissible under India's constitutional and criminal-law framework are warranted.
2. PERMANENT CANCELLATION OF LICENCES AFTER FINAL CONVICTION
A person or business finally convicted of deliberately manufacturing or distributing seriously spurious medicines or severely adulterated food should face permanent disqualification from holding the relevant licence, subject to the safeguards of law and judicial review.
3. NO ESCAPE THROUGH A NEW COMPANY OR BENAMI ARRANGEMENT
A convicted offender should not be able to simply close one company and start another business under a different name.
The law should strengthen mechanisms dealing with:
beneficial ownership;
nominee directors;
related entities;
shell companies;
licence transfers;
and other methods of circumventing regulatory disqualification.
4. STRONGER ACTION AGAINST ORGANised CRIMINAL NETWORKS
Where investigations establish that manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, financiers or intermediaries knowingly participate in an organised network dealing in spurious medicines or seriously adulterated food, enhanced penalties should be considered.
5. FAST-TRACK INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION
Cases involving deliberate manufacture or distribution of dangerous medicines and food should receive priority investigation.
Justice delayed in such cases can mean that the same network continues operating while the legal proceedings continue.
6. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE AFTER FINAL CONVICTION
After final conviction and completion of applicable legal procedures, the Government should consider maintaining a publicly accessible database containing:
name of convicted individual/entity;
nature of offence;
product involved;
regulatory action;
conviction;
sentence;
licence cancellation/disqualification.
Publication of photographs and other identifying information should be considered within a clear statutory framework protecting due process and applicable privacy rights.
7. STRONGER TRACEABILITY
India should expand technology-based traceability for high-risk medicines and food products:
Manufacturer → Distributor → Wholesaler → Retailer → Consumer
Consumers should have a simple method to verify the authenticity of critical medicines.
8. PROTECTION FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS
Employees, pharmacists, doctors, distributors, food workers and citizens who expose organised adulteration and counterfeit networks should receive meaningful protection from retaliation.
9. STRONGER TESTING INFRASTRUCTURE
Government laboratories and State enforcement agencies should receive the resources, technology and manpower necessary for rapid detection and action against dangerous products.
10. SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN
Food, milk, infant nutrition products and paediatric medicines should receive the highest level of risk-based regulatory scrutiny.
PUNISH THE CRIMINAL — NOT THE INNOCENT
This petition is not asking for punishment merely because someone is accused.
It is not asking for innocent relatives to be punished because of their family relationship.
It is demanding something much more fundamental:
INVESTIGATE PROPERLY.
PROVE THE CRIME.
FOLLOW DUE PROCESS.
THEN PUNISH THE GUILTY SEVERELY.
At the same time, the law must prevent convicted offenders from escaping permanent disqualification by placing their businesses in the names of nominees, associates or related entities.
Justice must be both strong and fair.
WE MUST STOP TREATING HUMAN LIFE AS A BUSINESS EXPENSE
There is something profoundly wrong when someone can look at a life-saving medicine and see only a profit margin.
There is something profoundly wrong when adulteration becomes a business strategy.
There is something profoundly wrong when the cheapest possible ingredient is deliberately substituted for something that a human being is depending upon.
And there is something profoundly wrong if criminals believe that the financial rewards of adulteration outweigh the consequences of getting caught.
THE LAW MUST CHANGE THAT CALCULATION.
THIS PETITION IS ABOVE POLITICS
This is not a petition against any political party.
It is not a petition for one government or against another.
It is a demand for stronger protection of human life, irrespective of which government is in power.
Every Indian deserves the same basic assurance:
THE MEDICINE WE BUY MUST BE GENUINE.
THE FOOD WE FEED OUR CHILDREN MUST BE SAFE.
AND THOSE WHO DELIBERATELY ENDANGER LIVES FOR PROFIT MUST FACE CONSEQUENCES PROPORTIONATE TO THE CRIME.
OUR DEMAND TO THE PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
We respectfully request the Parliament of India to:
URGENTLY REVIEW INDIA'S EXISTING LAWS.
STRENGTHEN PENALTIES FOR DELIBERATE AND AGGRAVATED SPURIOUS-DRUG AND FOOD-ADULTERATION OFFENCES.
CONSIDER A MINIMUM 20-YEAR IMPRISONMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE MOST SERIOUS PROVEN OFFENCES.
PROVIDE FOR PERMANENT REGULATORY DISQUALIFICATION AFTER FINAL CONVICTION.
PREVENT CONVICTED OFFENDERS FROM CIRCUMVENTING DISQUALIFICATION THROUGH NEW ENTITIES OR NOMINEES.
STRENGTHEN TRACEABILITY, TESTING, INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION.
PROTECT WHISTLEBLOWERS.
GIVE CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE PATIENTS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF PROTECTION.
TO EVERY INDIAN READING THIS:
You may never know who will need a life-saving medicine tomorrow.
It could be your mother.
Your father.
Your husband.
Your wife.
Your brother.
Your sister.
Your friend.
Or your child.
And when that moment comes, you should not have to wonder whether the medicine in your hand is real.
You should not have to become a laboratory technician before feeding your child.
You should be able to trust the system.
You should be able to trust the product.
You should be able to trust the law.
LET US DEMAND THAT TRUST.
LET US DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY.
LET US DEMAND STRONGER LAWS.
BECAUSE A HUMAN LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN A CRIMINAL'S PROFIT.
SIGN THIS PETITION.
SHARE IT WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
LET THIS MESSAGE REACH THE PARLIAMENT OF INDIA.
SAVE LIVES. STOP DELIBERATE ADULTERATION. STRENGTHEN THE LAW.
IMPORTANT SOURCES
Government of India — Drug quality and spurious/adulterated drug data:
https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/187/AU1325_DSZtEj.pdf
Government of India — Food-safety enforcement data:
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2241083
Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation — Drug alerts:
Petition Updates
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Petition created on 15 September 2026