Congress national spokesperson and chairperson of the party’s Social Media and Digital Platforms, Supriya Shrinate, on Saturday (July 12, 2025) criticised Bihar Urban Development Minister Jivesh Mishra over his conviction in a 15-year-old fake medicine case, asserting that his continued presence in the Cabinet reflected a moral crisis in public life.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in Patna, Ms. Shrinate said the issue of spurious drugs was not merely a legal or regulatory concern, but one that directly affected public health, human lives, and the moral fabric of governance.

Also Read | Chirag Paswan raises concern over rising crime in Bihar, questions police accountability

“Bihar government’s Urban Development Minister Jivesh Mishra has been found guilty of supplying fake medicines. There was a time when a Minister used to resign merely when their name was mentioned in an allegation. Public life demands dignity and morality, but in the ‘double engine government’, this guilty person roams freely and fearlessly as a Minister,” she said.

Mr. Mishra, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and MLA from Jaale Assembly constituency in Darbhanga district, was convicted by a Rajasthan court on June 4, 2025, along with eight others in a case relating to the manufacture and distribution of substandard drugs.

According to Ms. Shrinate, Mr. Mishra is a director of a pharmaceutical company named Alto Health Care Private Limited. During a drug inspection conducted in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district, Ciproline-500 tablets supplied by the company were found to be adulterated and not compliant with prescribed quality standards.

“Instead of being sent to jail, the court gave him relief under Sections 4 and 5 of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958,” Ms. Shrinate noted.

She elaborated that Section 4 allows for first-time offenders to be released on probation if the court believes in the possibility of their reform. Section 5, she added, empowers the court to impose a fine and release the offender on similar terms.

“Jivesh Mishra was not punished, but was released through probation and fine. What is the human side of this? The question is not just about the law; the question is about those thousands of patients who received these substandard or adulterated medicines,” she said.

“Can anyone do business at the cost of life? Can a person holding a ministerial position escape this crime of public trust by calling it a ‘first-time offence’? Were the lives of those whose family members took such medicines jeopardised or not?” she asked.

The Congress spokesperson demanded Mr. Mishra’s resignation on moral grounds and called on the Union Health Ministry and Drug Control Authority to clarify what action had been taken following the conviction.

She further questioned whether similar leniency would be extended to a common citizen in such a case. “Today, when there are concerns about the quality of medicines in the country, this case will set a precedent – either accountability will be fixed, or the business of adulterated medicines will continue to flourish under the shield of politics,” she said.

Ms. Shrinate also criticised the State government for the alleged deterioration of law and order in Bihar. Referring to incidents of violence involving women, minors, and businessmen, she described the prevailing situation as “Goonda Raj”.