‘Utilise domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity’
The Delhi high court on Wednesday said the Centre was not being able to utilise the vaccine manufacturing capacity in India, remarking that “some people should be charged for manslaughter if they are sitting on untapped potential”.
“There is a lot of scope and infrastructure which is available for manufacturing of vaccines. This untapped potential has to be utilised... People from abroad are coming. You have good vaccines in India. You handhold these vaccine manufacturers and take them all over India and tell them this hub is available and use this. There is an emergency,” the division bench of justices Manmohan and Najmi Waziri told the Centre.
“There is a palpable disquiet in the country. Everybody needs the vaccine. You have sovereign powers,” the court said, asking as to why it was necessary to test a vaccine being manufactured in India when exemptions are being provided to the same vaccine that is imported from outside the country.
The court said that the government can “dispense” the
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process due to the unprecedented situation. “You are just sitting on it and sticking by the rulebook when the rulebook itself says in emergent circumstances you can do that. If you had approved it... and taken a policy decision, surely the vaccine would be available in the bazaar,” the court said.
The court’s remarks came on a plea by Delhi-based pharmaceutical firm Panacea Biotec through advocate Rajesh Ranjan seeking release of its arbitral award money for manufacturing Sputnik V vaccine in India in collaboration with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
The application was filed seeking to modify a July 2020 order, by which the firm had undertaken not to press the execution of an arbitral award, running into crores of rupees, passed in its favour and against the Centre.
The company, in its fresh application in a pending matter, has sought release of the arbitral award saying it needs funds at the earliest in the larger interest of humanity as it has already manufactured trial batches of Sputnik V in collaboration with RDIF and the process of manufacturing scale-up batches is on.
The Centre, opposing the plea, contended that the manufacturing of Sputnik V will not benefit the country as it will be for global supply by RDIF.
Additional solicitor general Balbir Singh, appearing for the Centre, said they have come to know that capital investment is provided by RDIF and currently, the tests have been conducted and samples of Panacea have not been approved.
He said no licence has been granted to it and referred to a recent statement made by RDIF and Dr Reddy’s that they have not authorised anyone to manufacture the vaccine in India, adding that the Centre can source the Sputnik V vaccine from Dr Reddy’s only and the raw material for the vaccine would come from Russia.
The court said, “How much time will you take? All you have to do is match sample A with sample B…WE need to have crores and crores of vaccinations on a daily basis”.
Singh disputed the suggestion and said that the law does not permit this, only to be told by the court, “Law has to be with logic. Your point is that if X is coming outside India, we will allow it. But the same X which is made in India is not allowed, especially in this pandemic situation.”