SC adjourns for two weeks plea seeking CBI case against Pharma firms

On Wednesday, the Apex Court adjourned for 2 weeks hearing on a petition seeking registration of an FIR by the CBI against 10 Indian pharmaceutical firms for manufacturing & selling Remdesivir & Favipiravir, allegedly as medicines to treat Coronavirus patients, without valid licences.

A bench headed by CJI SA Bobde told advocate ML Sharma, who has filed the petition, that there are rules framed by the Indian Govt for the new drugs & clinical trials.

"We are adjourning this matter you see the rule & come back," the bench said while adjourning the matter for 2 weeks.

Remdesivir & Favipiravir are antiviral drugs, however, their efficacy in treating COVID-19 patients has been a matter of debate among medical experts.

The petition claimed that the medicines are being manufactured & sold for treating COVID-19 patients without valid licences from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.

Sharma, through his plea, sought prosecution of the Indian companies for cheating & criminal conspiracy besides under the provisions of the Drug Act, 1940 & said that these medicines have not been certified as medicines for COVID-19 till date by any country.

It said that the companies are manufacturing & selling them at very high rates in India & people are paying that due to the fear of COVID-19 infection & are dying.

It alleged that more than 300 doctors have died in hospitals where these two medicines have been supplied & it amounted to "exploitation of public due to the fear of death."

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