Petition seeks sealing of all manufacturing units of pharma major
The Supreme Court of India has issued notice to Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd on a public interest petition seeking investigation against the company. The petition has alleged that Ranbaxy is producing and supplying adulterated and substandard medicines across the country.
The court issued the notice on Friday while agreeing to examine the allegation. The bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, however, refused to pass any order restricting company from manufacturing drugs.
The petition was filed in July last year by advocate M L Sharma seeking directions to cancel the licence of the company.
Sharma said the court has not set any date for response from company, but that generally a respondent gets four weeks to file a reply.
An earlier petition filed by Sharma against Ranbaxy was dismissed. But the court said he could file a fresh petition if he could provide additional documents in support of his allegation.
Sharma said the company has been fined in the US for providing supplying sub-standard medicines. Many questions have been raised about the company’s different units not meeting the standards for drug manufacturing. In spite of these developments, no action has been taken against the company in India where it is selling the same drugs, the petitioner said.
On these grounds, Sharma demanded sealing of all units of the company.
Sharma also demanded action against the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), which has permitted the company to produce and sell the drugs in the country.
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