New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on Noida-based drug maker Marion Biotech, whose cough syrups were linked to the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan in 2022, remarking that the company should have faced even graver charges "but for want of jurisdiction" and that the company had brought a "bad name to the country". A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi dismissed a petition filed by the company and five of its officials, including directors, challenging summons issued to them in connection with alleged violations in drug manufacturing. "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 court added 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," observed the bench, dismissing the petition. With the Supreme Court now refusing to interfere, the company and its officials will 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. The summons arose from a complaint filed by a drugs inspector, invoking provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The complaint alleged 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. This followed after test analysis reports found certain samples manufactured by the company to be "not of standard quality". The Noida-based firm came under global scrutiny after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a medical alert linking the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan to Marion Biotech's Dok-1 Max and Ambronol cough syrups. The reports flagged the presence of ethylene glycol -- a toxic industrial chemical - in the formulations. Following the deaths, India's health ministry suspended production at the company. Authorities in Uttar Pradesh later permanently cancelled its manufacturing licence. In his January 14 ruling, Justice Harvir Singh of the high court held that there was no illegality in the magistrate's summoning order....