Pregnant woman goes undercover, exposes illegal abortion pill sale at Gurgaon pharmacy
Officials said the operation was initiated based on a secret complaint alleging that a pharmacy in Sector 48 was dispensing MTP kits without adhering to legal provisions.
3 min read
The woman paid with three currency notes of Rs 500 each, took the medication, and left. (Express Photo)On Thursday night, a woman visited a medical store in Gurgaon’s Tikri village in Sector 48. She was 11 weeks pregnant and wanted to terminate the pregnancy.
The man at the counter examined her ultrasound report and offered her abortion pills for Rs 1,500. He handed over a strip of medication and gave her instructions on how to use it.
The woman paid with three currency notes of Rs 500 each, took the medication, and left.
After walking 50 metres, she alerted a team from the health department that was lying in wait. The team swooped in and raided the shop for illegally selling Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) kits.
The woman, it turned out, was a decoy customer sent by the team.
An FIR was registered against the manager and the proprietor under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, and the Essential Commodities Act.
The raid was conducted by a team comprising Gurgaon Deputy Civil Surgeons Dr Pradeep Kumar and Dr Jai Prakash Rajliwal, Medical Officer Dr Harish Kumar, and Gurgaon Drugs Control Officer Amandeep Chauhan.
Officials said the operation was initiated based on a secret complaint alleging that M/S Indian Pharmacy, located near Euro International School, was dispensing MTP kits without adhering to legal provisions. The informer claimed that the store openly provided these kits, instructing users on dosage and administration.
To verify the allegations, the team deployed the woman, whose pregnancy was confirmed via ultrasound.
During the search, the Rs 500 notes given by the woman — pre-marked and signed by the Gurgaon Civil Surgeon — were recovered from a drawer in the store.
When questioned, officials said the manager — who was the counter — failed to produce a registered medical practitioner’s licence or any sale/purchase records for the MTP kits. He admitted to dispensing the kit himself, despite not being a registered pharmacist. He also could not explain why the kit was sold without a prescription or why he guided the decoy on its use.
Additionally, the team said the sale price of the kit exceeded the MRP, which had been obscured with a black marker, contravening the Drugs Price Control Order 2013 and the Essential Commodities Act.
Following the raid, the MTP kit and currency notes were seized, and the shop was sealed under Section 22(1)(d) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to prevent further violations.
The recovery was videographed, and the inspection report — along with evidence, including the ultrasound report, currency notes, and video footage — was submitted to the police.
Police registered the FIR at Sadar police station under sections 3(5) (acts done with intent to cause harm or endanger life or personal safety), 88 (abetment of an offence), and 125 (acts endangering life or personal safety of others) of the BNS.
It also included Section 34 (regulating the practice of medicine and prohibiting unqualified individuals from providing medical services) of the NMC Act 2019; Section 3 (empowering the government to control the production, supply, and distribution of essential commodities, with violations punishable under Section 7) of the Essential Commodities Act 1955; and Sections 3 (conditions under which medical termination of pregnancy is permitted), 4 (registration of facilities), and 5 (qualifications required for practitioners) of the MTP Act.
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