On September 13, 2023, the additional solicitor general informed the Supreme Court that the Centre would place an updated affidavit detailing its mechanism for regulating the prices of life-saving drugs.
A bench of judges headed by DY Chandrachud was responding to a petition which objected to the formula used for drug pricing. While the government defended its price control mechanisms, the petitioner All India Drug Action Network challenged it.
The petitioner said the formula promoted “super-profits in the guise of price control”. The apex court listed the petition for October 4.
On September 12, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the district magistrate of Ujjain to ensure the encroachments on public land reserved for plantation are cleared.
It also directed the magistrate to allot fresh land to the forest department’s plantation drives since a government school had been constructed on a part of the encroached land. NGT further ordered the magistrate and the district forest officer to submit a compliance report regarding the same.
Approximately 4.80 hectares of the land is subjected to encroachment in Ghattiya tehsil, according to a joint committee report submitted before the NGT. Of this, one hectare of land is encroached and is being used for constructing residential buildings and gaushalas (cow sheds) without obtaining any approval from the state government.
A school has been constructed on the remaining 0.5 hectares, and the rest is being encroached on for agricultural activities.
In Nagda tehsil, 2.120 hectares of land have been encroached. Though the report was filed in May 2023, no action has been taken by the authorities to remove the encroachments, the tribunal added.
The NGT central zonal bench, located in Bhopal, directed a dairy operator in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, to ensure appropriate treatment of wastewater and its utilisation. The treated wastewater may be used for irrigation and other purposes, the tribunal added.
In addition, the plantation of trees or green belts, wherever feasible, should be done to provide a barrier against the spread of foul smell or noise originating from the farm, the NGT noted.
Moreover, it directed local bodies / municipal corporations to publish public notices in newspapers and on their websites for registration of dairy farms and gaushalas as per municipal laws.
The Uttarakhand High Court directed the state government to ensure that no encroachment takes place over the land recorded as johar (pond) in Akodha village in Laksar tehsil, Haridwar.
The petitioner informed the court that after filing the writ petition, the encroachments and illegal constructions have been removed.