The Supreme Court today directed the government to reply in two weeks on a plea seeking cancellation of licence issued to Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd for allegedly selling substandard drugs in India.
A Bench of Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy, which had earlier issued notice to the Health and Family Welfare Ministry on the plea, made it clear that no further time will be granted for filing its response.
During the brief hearing, the petitioner advocate ML Sharma contended that the drug-maker was fined $500 million by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for allegedly making and selling adulterated drugs.
In his PIL, Sharma has alleged adulteration in drugs manufactured by the pharmaceutical major and sought shutting down of its three plants, located in located in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and New Delhi.