2 weeks ago
Safe medicines basic right, not just consumer choice: High Court
A medicine called Locipil tablets was made by a company in India.
Government scientists checked the medicine and said it was not good enough quality.
The government then wanted a court case against three leaders of the company.
The leaders said they were not the people who made the medicine.
The high court judges said being healthy is part of everyone's right to live.
That means medicines must be safe, and safe medicine is a basic right, not just a choice for shoppers.
The judges did not decide whether the leaders did something wrong.
They said another court should look at all the evidence and decide.
Now a trial court will decide the case fairly.
The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court held that the right to health is part of the right to life, making safe medicines a basic right, not merely a consumer choice.
The court refused to quash criminal proceedings against three directors of Ahmedabad-based Corona Remedies Private Limited over Locipil tablets declared "Not of Standard Quality".
A sample lifted from ESIC Model Hospital, Bari Brahmana, Jammu, was declared "Not of Standard Quality" by a government analyst on August 31, 2016.
The court said whether the directors were "in charge of" the company's business is a question of fact for the trial court, citing Supreme Court judgments.
The court applied "estoppel by conduct" because the company had stopped sale of the batch and sought leniency instead of disputing the findings.
- Who
- Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court; petitioners Ankur Kirtikumar Mehta, Dr Kirtikimar Laxmidas Mehta and Nirav Kirti Kumar Mehta, directors of Corona Remedies Private Limited; and a drugs inspector of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.
- What
- The high court refused to quash criminal proceedings against the directors for a drug declared "Not of Standard Quality", ruling that safe medicines are a basic right under the right to life.
- Where
- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court; the sample was taken from ESIC Model Hospital, Bari Brahmana, Jammu; the company is based in Ahmedabad; testing was done at the Regional Drugs Testing Laboratory, Chandigarh.
- When
- High court order dated August 11, 2026; magistrate's process order dated July 26, 2018; government analyst's report dated August 31, 2016.
- Why
- Because sub-standard drugs directly affect public health, and the court held the right to health is part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Court and drug regulator
Company directors
Liability of directors
Court and drug regulator
Directors in charge of and responsible for the company's business can be held liable under Section 34 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act; whether they were is a question of fact for the trial court.
Company directors
Directors should not be criminally liable merely because of their position, as they were not personally involved and manufacturing was handled by technical personnel.
Quashing the proceedings
Court and drug regulator
Alleged procedural deficiencies under sections 23 and 25 do not justify quashing, because the drug law's safeguards protect public health and life.
Company directors
The proceedings should be quashed because of procedural deficiencies in how the complaint and statutory requirements were handled.
Company's response and leniency
Court and drug regulator
The company's reply, which did not dispute the findings and sought a lenient view, bars it from later challenging the complaint ("estoppel by conduct").
Company directors
The company had stopped selling the batch, had no stock remaining, and asked for a lenient view after saying it honoured the findings.
Key facts
- Court
- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court
- Judge
- Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal
- Company
- Corona Remedies Private Limited (Ahmedabad)
- Drug in question
- Locipil tablets (manufactured September 2015; expiry May 2018)
- Offences
- Section 18(a)(i) read with Section 27(d), Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
- Complaint filed by
- Drugs inspector, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation
- Sample site
- ESIC Model Hospital, Bari Brahmana, Jammu
- Outcome
- Petition dismissed; trial court to decide the case on its merits
Quotes
Corona Remedies Spokesperson
Representative of the pharmaceutical company Corona Remedies
“We admire your findings and honour your judgment”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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