Shopkeeper fined BD5,000 for hiding medicines

TDT | Manama

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Unregistered medicines found in a budget fashion shop have cost a shopkeeper BD5,000, as the Court of Cassation, the Kingdom’s highest court, ordered the shop’s closure and confiscation of its goods.

The court established that the shopkeeper had been storing drugs outside a licensed pharmacy and had failed to register them with the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA). The penalty encompasses the closure of the shop and the removal of all items and tools, including the medicines found on-site.

The case emerged during a routine check by an NHRA officer, who discovered stashed medicines in the upper room of the clothing shop — items typically found only in licensed pharmacies and absent from the NHRA’s records.

Offenses

In 2023, the Public Prosecution charged the shopkeeper with these offences, leading the Minor Criminal Court to impose a fine of BD5,000 and order the closure of the shop. However, the shopkeeper refused to accept the ruling and appealed.

In court, his lawyer contended that the shopkeeper was unaware of the items and denied any wrongdoing, asserting that the confiscated goods belonged to the neighbouring shop. He further pointed out that the case files lacked solid evidence proving that the confiscated items were, in fact, medicines. Nonetheless, the Court of Appeals upheld the initial ruling