Ban on 20 drug companies: SC upholds HC order

The Supreme Court upheld a High Court order that directed the government to stop production of 20 pharmaceutical companies for manufacturing substandard drugs.

The four-member Appellate Division bench headed by the Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order on Wednesday.

Four of the 20 drug companies recently filed the petitions challenging the previous order. The High Court had passed the order following a writ petition on June 7.

After today’s order, the 20 companies cannot manufacture medicines while 14 other companies cannot produce any antibiotics.

The 20 companies asked to stop production are: Exim Pharmaceuticals, Avert Pharma, Bikalpa Pharmaceuticals, Dolphin Pharmaceuticals, Drugland Ltd, Globe Laboratories, Jalpa Laboratories, Kafma Pharmaceuticals, Medico Pharmaceuticals, National Drug Pharma, North Bengal Pharmaceuticals, Remo Chemicals, Rid Pharmaceuticals, Skylab Pharmaceuticals, Spark Pharmaceuticals, Star Pharmaceuticals, Sunipun Pharmaceuticals, Today Pharmaceuticals, Tropical Pharmaceuticals and Universal Pharmaceuticals.