NEW DELHI: Hearing pleas to ban the online sale of drugs without a valid licence, the Delhi High Court has granted six weeks to the Centre to inform the court about its final stand on the “illegal” sale of drugs online.
The high court was hearing petitions challenging the draft rules published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to further amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules. The court sought both the Centre and city government to take action on the matter.
“Union of India is granted a further six weeks’ time to take appropriate steps and thereafter, inform the court of UoI’s final stand in this matter. In the interim, the Union of India and the State Government are directed to take necessary action, in accordance with the law, in respect of persons acting in violation of the interim order dated 12 December (2018), that is, engaging in online sale of drugs without a valid licence,” a bench of justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Sanjeev Narula said in a recent order.
As the Centre’s counsel informed the court that consultations are still going on about a draft notification on the online sale of drugs, the bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 16. In one of the previous hearings seeking contempt action against online pharmacies, some of them had submitted that they do not require a licence for the online sale of drugs and prescription medicines as they are only delivering the medications, akin to the food delivery app Swiggy, which does not require a restaurant licence to deliver food.
The court had earlier sought responses from the Centre, Delhi government, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and the Pharmacy Council of India. The petitioner had said the “illegal” sale of medicines online will lead to a “drug epidemic”, drug abuse and misutilisation of addictive drugs. The PIL said since there was no mechanism to control the sale of medicines online, it puts the health of consumers at high risk and affects their right to a safe and healthy life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
