INDORE: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has refused to grant bail to Dr Praveen Soni, a paediatrician from Parasia in Chhindwara district, and several others accused in the toxic Coldrif cough syrup tragedy that claimed the lives of more than two dozen young children.
A single-judge bench of Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal on February 17, 2026 rejected the bail applications of Dr Soni, his wife Jyoti Soni and three other co-accused, concluding that the severity of the allegations and the circumstances of the case make it unsuitable for bail.
The case stems from a series of child fatalities in 2025 after the children were administered Coldrif cough syrup, a fixed-dose combination medicine later linked to contamination with diethylene glycol (DEG) — a toxic industrial solvent. Laboratory tests found DEG levels far above permissible limits, which health authorities said caused acute kidney injury and death among infants and toddlers.
In its order, the High Court highlighted that Dr Soni continued prescribing the Coldrif syrup to children despite being warned by a senior paediatrician in Nagpur about a prior incident in 1998 where contaminated cough syrup had caused mass death children. The bench noted that the doctor was aware of those past dangers yet did not desist from prescribing the same medicine, leading to the loss of at least 26 young lives in the current incident.
The court also took note of government directives issued in December 2023 that prohibited the use of the banned fixed-dose combination cough syrup for children under four years of age, which Dr Soni allegedly violated by continuing to prescribe it.
According to the State’s arguments, Dr Soni and the other accused allegedly received financial incentives — including commission — for prescribing and dispensing the Coldrif syrup, a point the bench found troubling in the context of widespread public health harm.
While the defence argued before the High Court that Dr Soni should not be held responsible for manufacturing defects in the syrup, the court emphasised that the charges — including alleged violation of drug safety norms and culpable negligence in medical practice — are serious and warrant continued detention.
The decision aligns with earlier rulings by lower courts; Dr Soni’s regular bail application was already denied by the trial court in October 2025. The High Court’s refusal came against the backdrop of intense public and media scrutiny over regulatory failures and the safety of medicines, with several states banning sales of the Coldrif product following the tragedy.
The accused will remain in custody as the trial continues, with the High Court directing that the matter proceed in accordance with the law.
