A public interest plea filed in the Supreme Court seeks a national framework to curb fake and adulterated medicines, with probes done in three months and trials in one year.

The PIL by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay asks the Centre and states to finish investigations into fake drug cases within three months and trials within one year, news agency ANI reported.

It also seeks time-bound forensic testing of seized medicines, mandatory videography of searches and seizures, and a standard operating procedure for investigation. The plea calls for confiscation of the properties of fake-drug makers and financiers, plus a graded sentencing policy.

The petition cited reports of fake cancer drugs supplied to more than 90 hospitals in Bengaluru. It argued that the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940 has no framework for time-bound investigation or witness protection in such cases.

Why it matters: if taken up, the plea could force India's first uniform, deadline-driven system for tackling spurious medicines.