The Bangalore High Court has partially vacated the stay order it had granted on the new Pharma Policy 2002. While all aspects of the policy, including matters related with R&D, CDSCO, pharma education etc are now free to be implemented, the court has decided continue the stay on the pricing part of the policy. As a result, the announcement of the new Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) is delayed by a few more weeks as the next hearing of the HC is scheduled on September 23, 2002.

The court order vacating the stay on all other portions of the policy except the pricing part came after it considered the application of the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers seeking a vacation of the stay. The Ministry had filed the application on April 6, 2002.

The HC stay on the policy was based on a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Bangalore High Court. The PIL had pointed out that the new DPCO is based merely on the sales turnover of a particular drug and not on the volume of sales, as a result of which essential and life saving drugs, were kept out of the regulatory mechanism. The new DPCO were to have only 30 drugs under price control.