Gurugram Court Denies Bail to Alleged Fake Mounjaro Racket Mastermind Avi Sharma
A Gurugram court on June 20 dismissed the regular bail application of Avi Sharma, the alleged mastermind behind a fake Mounjaro weight-loss injection racket operated from a residential flat at Pivotal Paradise in Sector-62. Additional Sessions Judge Yashwinder Paul Singh rejected the plea, observing that the allegations against Sharma are "quite grave" and that "his act prima facie appears to be committing fraud with the general public at large and selling of spurious, adulterated and misbranded drugs."
Sharma has been in judicial custody since April 19, following a drug bust the previous day. On April 18, a team comprising Gurgaon Drugs Control Officers Amandeep Chauhan and Mukesh Kumar, along with the local police, intercepted a car near Super Mart in the city.
During the interception, officials recovered suspected spurious Mounjaro Kwikpen Injections of various strengths. The estimated value of the seized drugs, based on the maximum retail price printed on the labels, was Rs 56,15,847.
A passenger in the car, Mujammil Khan, who identified himself as a medical representative for Hemped Souls International LLP, disclosed to investigators that the recovered products belonged to Sharma. Sharma was subsequently called to the spot, where he failed to produce any valid licence to stock, sell, exhibit, or distribute the drug, and admitted sole responsibility.
According to the prosecution, the labels on the recovered vials claimed they were manufactured by Eli Lilly Italia SpA and imported by Eli Lilly and Company (India) Pvt Ltd. However, verification with the actual manufacturing company confirmed that the drugs did not belong to them and were entirely spurious.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Sharma was allegedly manufacturing these counterfeit products himself from his residential flat at Pivotal Paradise in Sector-62. A search of the premises led to the recovery of fabricated drug labels. Investigators also found that Sharma was manufacturing another drug under the brand name 'Tone UP', falsely claiming it was manufactured in Japan, without holding any valid drug manufacturing licence.
In seeking regular bail, Sharma's counsel argued that he had been in custody since April 19 and had previously received the 'Bhartiya Excellence Award for Ayurvedic Innovator of the year'. The defence contended that the 'Tone Up' project was strictly on an experimental level and was never sold in the market, adding that no private witnesses were joined during the recovery.
Drugs Control Officer Amandeep Chauhan opposed the bail application, arguing that the charges are heinous and carry a punishment of up to life imprisonment. Chauhan stated that releasing Sharma could adversely affect the ongoing investigation. He previously noted that Sharma began the illegal operation in April in his flat, aiming to scale up earnings to Rs 2 crore a month by counterfeiting Mounjaro, a drug used to manage diabetes and weight loss.
