Defending himself and the BJP's move to distribute the critical Covid-19 drug Remdesivir to people from the party's office in Surat during the peak of the second wave of coronavirus in April, state unit president Chandrakant R Paatil said that "at no point were the injections kept for the purpose of hoarding at any place, including the party office". He also claimed that "availability and facilitation of injections was done strictly in accordance with the statutory provisions and guidelines issued by the competent authorities".
"At no point in time, the subject matter injections, i.e, Remdesivir, were kept for the purpose of hoarding at any place, including the party office of Bharatiya Janata Party. Therefore, allegations regarding the "Hoarding" of the injection are thoroughly baseless," Paatil has said in an affidavit he filed in the Gujarat High Court in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by Congress MLA and leader of Opposition in state assembly Paresh Dhanani.
He has claimed in the affidavit that "...facilitation of the injections was done strictly in accordance with the statutory provisions and guidelines issued by the competent authorities".
Dhanani filed the PIL, accusing Paatil and Surat MLA Harsh Sanghvi, among others, of violating provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, Pharmacy Act 1948 as well as Drug (Control) Act 1950, for "distributing Remdesivir injections" despite not having any legal rights of doing so under the acts. Last week, the state government filed an affidavit informing the court that its preliminary inquiry has given a "clean chit" to BJP leaders. The government has said that the inquiry is still on for recording of statements of other involved persons.
"...at the relevant point of time when there was a huge demand of Remdesivir injection, Oxygen etc,. and patients as well as the general public were in dire need of the life-saving medicines and support. I, being a local resident of Navsari/Surat, had mobilized my senior party workers and duly elected public representatives (Members of Legislative Assembly as well as Local Municipal Corporators) to extend maximum help and assistance to those who were in acute need of Remdesivir Injections and other essential medical supplies," Paatil's affidavit stated.
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He added that his party workers and him did "whatever could have been done to provide ease to the suffering of the patients and the general public".
Criticising Dhanani for filing the petition, Paatil has said that the PIL has been filed with a "view to ventilate political grudge and grievance" against him and the BJP, "since petitioner and his political party are rivals in the political scenario of state of Gujarat, therefore even on that count, the present public interest litigation is not maintainable".