Sonu Sood Files Plea Denying Accusations of Hoarding COVID-19 Meds

Sonu Sood's plea aims to intervene with a PIL which alleges he illegally distributed COVID-19 medicines,

Actor Sonu Sood filed a plea before Bombay High Court challenging the allegations leveled against him for hoarding and distributing COVID-19 medicines. The Court agreed to hear the plea filed by Sood to intervene in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Sneha Marjadi and activist Nilesh Navlakha.

The plea states that Sood “denied all allegations of purchasing, stocking, storing, dealing, distributing and supplying medicines in any manner”.

In his affidavit Sood states that he founded the Sood Charity Foundation to help frontline workers, migrant workers, and the needy with meals and health facilities, reported The Hindu. He added that he coordinated with State governments and other authorities for his relief efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing the accusations of illegally distributing Remdesivir and Tocilizumab, he reportedly said that he connected people who contacted him through social media, to the places that sold the medicines.

Sood's plea reads, “In first stage, he would request the patients to furnish the details of the patients along with the copy of the patient’s aadhaar card, covid report, doctor’s prescription etc. After receiving the documents, he would get the same verified by directly contacting the hospital authority where the patient was admitted. Then he or his volunteers would verify the availability in the nearest pharmacy or hospital."

"If the drug was still not available, he would contact the concerned district magistrates, members of parliament, chief medical officers of the area as may be required. He would also connect with other hospitals and pharmacies to find out the availability of the said medicines. He would then share the information of the patient with the concerned authority so that they can help the patient directly.”

Sonu Sood's plea to intervene in PIL

According to his plea, if any patient wasn't able to pay for the medicines, he would reach out to manufacturers to assist the patients. Times of India reported that the Court asked Navlakha's advocate to look into the matter and present their response during the next hearing.