Plea against Ranbaxy rejected over Substandard Drugs

In a huge relief to drug manufacturing firm Ranbaxy, the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea against it as no evidence was found to prove that the drugs manufactured by the firm were substandard.

A bench of justices AK Patnaik and Ranjan Gogoi said that no petition can be entertained in the absence of evidence. The apex court made it clear that it cannot decide the plea against the firm on the basis of the judgement given by the US court.

No material was produced before the court today that claimed that the company was engaged in manufacturing or selling substandard products.

The verdict came on the plea, which was filed by advocate ML Sharma against Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd for allegedly manufacturing and selling substandard medicines. Petitioner Shrama had sought sealing of the firm after Ranbaxy was fined $500 million by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for making and selling adulterated drugs. He also sought action against India’s Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO), for allowing Ranbaxy to sell drugs in the country after the penalty.