Apex court to examine PIL against Ranbaxy

The Supreme Court on Friday decided to examine a PIL alleging supply of adulterated drugs by Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and issued notice to the Union government seeking its response over its “inaction” on the matter.

A bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and N V Ramana also asked the drug manufacturer to file its reply on the petition filed by advocate M L Sharma, who also sought CBI probe on the issue.

The court, however, refused to grant any interim stay on supply of medicines by the company. Senior advocate Rajiv Dutta, representing the company, submitted that the court had earlier rejected similar petitions by Sharma. He raised preliminary objections over the court entertaining the petition.

The bench, on its part, said that it would go through the objections later at the time of hearing. The court also pointed out that Sharma was then granted liberty to approach again if he had gathered some additional material.

Sharma sought action against the company for allegedly supplying sub-standard and adulterated drugs.

In his PIL, Sharma alleged that the company was fined USD 500 million by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for making and selling adulterated drugs.

He claimed that the Union government did not take any action against the company despite it pleading guilty to supply of adulterated drugs in the US.

The PIL also sought sealing of all its manufacturing units here, including those in Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.

Sharma also sought action against Indian drug regulator, Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO), for permitting Ranbaxy to sell drugs in India, especially in the wake of the results of the USFDA probe against the company.