Biocon Biologics bribery case: CBI yet to question Jt Drug Controller, other accused

With the CBI unable to question the accused arrested by it in the CDSCO bribery scandal allegedly involving a senior executive of Biocon Biologics even after six days, agency officials are apprehensive that the delay may impede the investigation.

A special court here had sent all the five accused, including a joint drug controller at Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, to judicial custody after they were arrested for alleged bribery to waive phase 3 clinical trial of 'Insulin Aspart' injection of Biocon Biologics to manage Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.


Sources said CBI officials are disappointed that the court rejected their application twice for custody as immediate questioning after arrest in a trap case is of extreme importance for the agency so the accused do not get a chance to develop an alibi in their defence.

The special court will hear on Tuesday the agency's petition seeking their police remand for custodial interrogation, they said.

The CBI had arrested joint drugs controller (JDC) S. Eswara Reddy, associate vice president of Biocon Biologics L. Praveen Kumar and three others on June 21 in a case of alleged bribery to the tune of Rs nine lakh.

Biocon Biologics, a subsidiary of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw-led Biocon, however, denied the allegations of bribery.

The agency had nabbed Reddy with a middleman while allegedly receiving Rs four lakh of the total promised bribe of Rs nine lakh.

It is alleged that Praveen Kumar had cleared the payment of Rs nine lakh as a bribe through Guljit Sethi who used to look after regulatory work for Biocon Biologics.

Besides Reddy and Kumar, the CBI had also arrested Dinesh Dua, director at Synergy Network India Private Limited, who allegedly gave a bribe to Reddy, Guljit Sethi, an alleged conduit of Biocon Biologics, as well as assistant drug inspector Animesh Kumar in the case.

All the accused but Praveen Kumar were arrested from Delhi. Praveen Kumar was brought from Bengaluru, they said.

A spokesperson for Biocon Biologics had denied the allegations and said they were cooperating with the investigating agency.

“We deny the bribery allegations made in certain media stories. All our product approvals are legitimate and backed by science and clinical data. Our bAspart is approved in Europe and many other countries,” the spokesperson said.

“We follow the due regulatory process for all our product approvals by DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India). The entire application process in India is online and all meeting minutes are in the public domain. We are cooperating with the investigation agency,” the spokesperson said.

The CBI has alleged that Sethi, acting as a conduit for Biocon Biologics, conspired with Praveen Kumar, head of the company's National Regulatory Affairs (NRA), and other senior executives of the company to pay Reddy a total bribe of Rs 9 lakh.

This was for favourably recommending the file of ‘Insulin Aspart Injection' to the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) meeting on May 18, 2022 for waiving the Phase 3 clinical trial, it alleged.