The complaint stated that the CBI had seized the bottles of contaminated fluids on August 8, 1989 and had directed Kataria to keep them in safe custody. Kataria was also told to produce the bottles when required by the CBI or the court.

The bottles were stocked in a rented godown. On January 9, 1999, Rakesh Kumar, the owner of the godown, reportedly broke into it and started removing the bottles.

Kataria reported the matter to the SHO of the Patel Nagar police station and to the Police Control Room. The complaint further states that the police officials did not make any efforts to trace the tempo that took away the contaminated bottles. Kataria also informed CBI's anti-corruption branch, but no action was taken by them.

``The CBI passed the buck to Delhi Police without realising that if the huge stocks of contaminated glucose bottles are not kept by them in safe custody, the same can get circulated in the market, hospitals or nursing homes,'' alleges Kulkarni in his complaint.

Following a city court's order, the Superintendent of Police of the CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch today filed a compliance report. The report rejects Kulkarni's claim that the bottles are a case property of the CBI.

The report submits that the contaminated IV fluids stored by Esskay Pharmaceuticals are not required by CBI. However, the agency has intimated DCP (West) to locate the bottles. The DCP has further directed the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Patel Nagar, to probe the matter and ensure that the 2,500 stolen bottles are not sold in the market.

Another compliance report will be filed on February 1.

The CBI brought the court's attention to the fact that Kataria had stopped paying rent for the godown. As a result, Kumar approached the court and procured an order for the possession of the basement where the contaminated fluids were preserved.

After the perusal of the report, Additional Sessions Judge Dinesh Dayal directed the agency to destroy the 2,500 bottles once they are traced. He also told Kataria to destroy the remaining bottles.