New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday (February 19) slammed Noida-based drug maker Marion Biotech, whose cough syrups have been linked to the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan in 2022.A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi made the remarks while dismissing a dismissed a petition filed by the company and five of its officials, including directors, wherein they had challenged the summons issued to them in connection with alleged violations in drug manufacturing, reported Hindustan Times.“Your syrup was found to be responsible for the death of children. You should be charged with murder too… but for the jurisdiction… go, appear before the authorities. You have been summoned. You must appear and answer. You do not deserve any indulgence,” the bench told the company’s counsel during the hearing.The top court also said that appropriate provisions of the Indian Penal Code appeared to be “missing” in the prosecution.“We think the charges under the Indian Penal Code is missing. You should have also been summoned under the provisions of the penal code… So many children have died…Something like this brings a bad name to the country. You should be prosecuted under more stringent sections. We can add those provisions here if you are willing too much to press the petition here,” said the bench.The drug maker had moved the Supreme Court after the Allahabad high court on January 14 rejected criminal revision petitions filed by officials and directors if the company.With the Supreme Court dismissing the petition, the company and its officials will now have to appear before the trial court in Gautam Budh Nagar and face proceedings under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.The plea before the Supreme Court followed a January 14 judgment of the Allahabad High Court, which had rejected criminal revision petitions filed by officials and directors of Marion Biotech against summons issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Gautam Budh Nagar.Earlier, the Noida-based firm had been in the spotlight after the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a medical alert linking the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan to Marion Biotech’s Dok-1 Max and Ambronol cough syrups, reported Hindustan Times.The present summons to the company resulted from a complaint filed by a drugs inspector, invoking provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, alleging manufacture and sale of drugs declared “not of standard quality”, including offences relating to adulterated and spurious drugs, procedural non-compliance and vicarious liability of company officials under Section 34 of the Act.The HT report added that the complaint was lodged after test analysis reports found certain samples manufactured by the company to be “not of standard quality”.