The Supreme Court agreed to hear a PIL seeking inquiry in the wake of deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan due to consumption of toxic cough syrups.

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Chief Justice B.R. Gavai on Thursday (October 9, 2025) agreed to hear within 24 hours, a plea seeking an independent investigation by a judicial commission or an expert committee to probe the cough syrup deaths which have claimed the lives of 14 children in Madhya Pradesh.The CJI agreed to list the case on October 10 after advocate Vishal Tiwari made an oral mentioning, highlighting the need for judicial intervention.Mr. Tiwari has sought a transfer of the FIRs on the children’ deaths to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).It has also sought a comprehensive inquiry into manufacture, regulation, testing and distribution of contaminated cough syrups containing Diethylene Glycol, a toxic chemical used in industrial solvents, and suggestions for safe manufacture of these medicines.The plea urged the Supreme Court to seize the present stock of the now-banned Coldrif syrup and ban their sale or distribution.It said the stock must be tested for toxic clearance and verified at NABL laboratories. Several States have already banned the syrup.A government doctor, who allegedly prescribed Coldrif, linked to the death of several children in Madhya Pradesh, was arrested with the police lodging a case against him and the Tamil Nadu-based manufacturer.The Madhya Pradesh Police has already formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case, while the State Government suspended Dr. Praveen Soni, a paediatric specialist at the Civil Hospital in the Parasia sub-division in Chhindwara district, accused of prescribing the adulterated syrup — Coldrif — to many of the deceased children at his private clinic.An FIR was also registered against Coldrif manufacturer, Sresan Pharmaceuticals, based in Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram, under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 105 and 276, and Section 27A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Published - October 09, 2025 12:06 pm IST