Uttarakhand High Court

Triveni Sewa Pharmacy And Another ... vs All India Institute Of Medical ... on 12 October, 2023

HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL

            Writ Petition (M/S) No. 2903 of 2023
Triveni Sewa Pharmacy and another                    .......Petitioners

                                  Versus

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh and
others                               ........Respondents
Present:-
               Ms. Neetu Singh, Advocate for the petitioner.
               Mr. Virendra Kaparuwan and Ms. Neeti Rana,
               Advocates for respondent nos.1 and 2.
               Mr.    Sagar      Kothari,   Advocate      for the
               Caveator/respondent no.3.



                              JUDGMENT

Hon'ble Ravindra Maithani, J. (Oral)

By means of the instant petition, the

petitioners seek the following reliefs:-

a) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the impugned order dated 24.11.2022 issued by Respondent No.1 (Annexure No.1 to the writ petition), in the interests of justice.

b) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus commanding and directing the Respondent No.1 & 2 for floating Tenders inviting all eligible agencies for opening of Affordable Medicines Chemists Shops (In short known as 'AMRIT Pharmacy) inside the AIIMS Campus and allocate shops based on highest bidder to give more Revenue to the Govt. as per Financial Rules & Regulations in the interests of justice.

c) Any other order or direction which this Hon'ble court deems fit and proper in facts and circumstances of the case be passed.

d) To award cost of the petition to the Petitioners.

2. Heard learned counsel for the parties and

perused the record.

3. By the impugned order dated 24.11.2022, the

respondent nos.1, All India Institute of Medical

Sciences, Rishikesh, District Dehradun ("AIIMS")

allotted some additional space for AMRIT Pharmacy.

4. It is the case of the petitioners that he also

runs a Chemist in the AIIMS premises, but now

without following the tender process, AMRIT

Pharmacy has been permitted to open a counter at

AIIMS an additional space has been provided to it.

5. Learned counsel appearing for the

petitioners would submit that the petitioners are

running their Chemist shops in the AIIMS premises.

Now, AIIMS authority has given an additional space

for running AMRIT Pharmacy at a very prominent

place, which may adversely effects the business of the

petitioners.

6. It is argued that, in fact, the tender process

should have been followed while opening AMRIT

Pharmacy. In the petition reference has been made to

Original Suit No.09 of 2023 filed by the petitioners

against AIIMS authorities.

7. The Court wanted to know from the learned

counsel for the petitioners, as to what was the relief

that was sought in Original Suit No.09 of 2023?

8. Learned counsel tendered for perusal of the

Court the recorded pertaining to the Original Suit

No.09 of 2023, Triveni vs. All India Institute of

Medical Sciences, Rishikesh and others pending in

the court of Civil Judge (Sr. Div.), Rishikesh, District

Dehradun ("the Original Suit"). It is taken on record.

9. In the Original Suit, the petitioners claimed

the following reliefs:-

"50. That plaintiffs prays for the following relief:-

a) A decree of permanent prohibitory injunction be passed in favour of plaintiffs and against the defendants restraining defendant nos. 1 & 2 from constructing and installing additional retail counter of defendant no.3 for selling medicines

etc. outside the Emergency Block of AIIMS, Rishikesh situated at Virbhadra Road, Rishikesh, which is morefully described in the Schedule of Property given at the end of this plaint.

OR in alternate

A decree of mandatory injunction be passed in favor of plaintiffs and against defendant nos. 1 & 2 directing defendant nos. 1 & 2 to also get installed additional retail counter for selling medicines etc of plaintiffs alongwith proposed additional retail counter of defendant no.2 outside the Emergency Block of AIIMS, Rishikesh, which is morefully described in the Schedule of Property given at the end of this plaint."

10. In the Original Suit an interim relief

application has also been filed by the petitioners,

which was decided on 22.08.2023. That order reveals

that, in fact, according to the AIIMS, the Pharmacy is

an Institution under the Government of India,

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the

name of HLL Lifecare Limited. AMRIT Pharmacy

provides generic medicines and other medical

apparatus at a very low cost. The order passed on

temporary injunction application filed by the

petitioners in the scheme, of which, there has been an

FIR against the petitioners with regard to lease and

lease documents. The court has made in the order

rejecting the temporary injunction application filed by

the petitioners. Appeal preferred against the order

rejecting temporary injunction application dated

02.08.2023 in the Original Suit was also dismissed on

05.09.2023 in the Misc. Civil Appeal No.12 of 2013 by

the court of 1st Additional District Judge, Rishikesh,

District Dehradun. The petitioners challenged the

orders passed in the Original Suit and in the appeal

preferred against the rejection of temporary injunction

application in WPMS No.2797 of 2023 before this

Court.

11. Learned counsel for the petitioners would

submit that the same was withdrawn on 04.10.2023

with the liberty to seek an appropriate remedy.

12. During the course of hearing learned

counsel for the petitioners would refer to annexure

no.2 to argue that under a procedure the AMRIT

Pharmacy could have been opened, but it has not

been followed. She would also refer to tender

document issued earlier with regard to allotment of

Chemist Shop (Emergency Block) to argue that, in

fact, such stores could have only be opened by way of

public tender.

13. It is true that public spaces should be given on

competitive prices so as to protect a public interest in

terms of greater revenue. But, Annexure No.2, the

document that has been referred to by the learned

counsel for the petitioners speaks otherwise. It reads as

follows:-

"I am directed to refer to the above mentioned subject and to say that Hon'ble Minister of Health & Family Welfare chaired a meeting on 27th August, 2022 on opening of AMRIT Stores in various AIIMS and has directed the following.

i. At least two to three AMRIT Stores with sufficiently large space need to be opened in each of the AIIMS at convenient locations.

ii. These AMRIT Stores should work 24/7 and sufficient visibility/signage should be provided in the campus of AIIMS also that the public is aware about these stores and can purchase cheaper drugs/medical device at any time during the day or night.

2. In connection to the above HLL Lifecare Ltd.

have been directed to follow up on this issue individually with each AIIMS separately and submit an action taken report to the Ministry

by 19th September, 2022. All the twenty new AIIMS viz. Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur, Rishikesh, Raeebareli, Nagpur, Mangalagiri, Kalyani, Guwahati, Bibinagar, Gorakhpur, Batinda, Deoghar, Bilaspur, Vijaypur Jammu, Awantipora, Rajkot and Madurai are requested to coordinate with HLL and take necessary steps towards opening of AMRIT Stores in AIIMS. "

14. In fact, Government of India has taken a

decision to establish AMRIT Stores in AIIMS, Rishikesh.

In the order dated 22.08.2023, passed in the Original

Suit while rejecting the temporary injunction

application of the petitioners, the court observed that

the AMRIT Stores provides low costs generic

medicines and also medical apparatus/instruments

at low costs. If Government of India is running those

AMRIT Stores under their own supervision so as to

provide cost effective medicines and medical/surgical

apparatus to the patients, there may not be any need

for tendering it. It serves the better purpose for