Drugs ban: Partial relief from HC for Wockhardt,Glaxo & Griffon

New Delhi: Delhi High Court today stayed the the ban on some fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs of Glaxo SmithKline, Wockhardt and Laboratories Griffon but said action against their sale could be taken in the absence of valid sale and marketing licence.

The drugs which were subject matter of today's plea are Aceproxyvon, Viscodyne and Viscodyne-D of Wockhardt, Crocin Cold and Flu Max of Glaxo and Grilinctus syrup of Griffon.

Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw passed the order after the government said the three companies had obtained licence from state licensing authorities for their FDC medicines, which was contrary to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules.

The high court said the government was free to take action against sale of these medicines under any other law available to it if there was no valid licence for their sale and marketing.

Central government standing counsel Amit Mahajan said the companies ought to have obtained licence from the licensing authority, which is the Drugs Controller General of India, as defined under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules and not the state licensing authorities.

The government lawyer also said since these companies had obtained licence for these medicines from state authorities, they were not entitled to any interim order as was passed in favour of 22 companies in the last four days.

Even Wockhardt and Glaxo had got relief of the stay order yesterday with regard to other FDC drugs they were selling.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Griffon, contended that the government's March 10 notification banning sale of some FDC drugs was not concerned about whether the medicine was marketed or sold without valid licence.

Even otherwise, any permission, as claimed by the government, was not required to be obtained, he contended.

The court also issued notice to the government on the companies' pleas challenging the notification and listed the petitions for hearing on March 21.