Judgement

CHINNAPPA REDDY, J.:- It was just the other day that our brothers Ranganath Misra and M. M. Dutt, JJ. had to give directions in a case (Vincent Panikurbangara v. Union of India), (AIR 1987 SC 990) where a public spirited litigant had complained about the unscrupulous exploitation of the India Drug and Pharmaceutical Market by multinational Corporations by putting in circulation low-quality and even deleterious drugs. In this group of cases we are faced with a different problem of alleged exploitation by big manufacturers of bulk drugs. The problem is that of high prices, bearing, it is said, little relation to the cost of production to the manufacturers. By way of illustration, we may straightway, mention a glaring instance of such high-pricing which was brought to our notice at the very commencement of the hearing. Barlagan Ketone, a bulk drug, was not treated as an essential bulk drug under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1970 and was not included in the schedule to that order. A manufacturer was, under the provisions of that Order, free to continue to sell the drug at the price reported by him to the Central Government at the time of the commencement of the order, but