The Supreme Court has deferred the first hearing on the controversial contempt of court petition filed against the appointment of Dr GN Singh as Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) by the Union health ministry on February 21 this year. The case has been posted for April 27.

According to sources, the Union health ministry filed the counter affidavit against the case on yesterday. After accepting the counter affidavit, the two-judge bench hearing the case postponed the hearing to April 27. The case was to come up for hearing on April 16.

The contempt of court petition against the appointment of Dr GN Singh as DCGI was filed in the first week of March this year by Dilip Kumar, secretary of the Tamil Nadu branch Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association (IPGA) who had earlier challenged the health ministry's new Recruitment Rule (RR) in the Madras High Court on the plea that the ministry had tailor-made the new rules to fit its nominee in the post of DCGI.

Earlier on February 13 this year, hearing the writ petition filed by Dilip Kumar, the Supreme Court had ordered that Madras High Court's earlier stay on the Recruitment Rule (RR) framed by the ministry in June last year for the appointment of DCGI should be continued. The Supreme Court's order virtually barred the government from appointing anybody as DCGI as per the new RR till the pendency of the case in Madras High Court.

But instead of waiting for the final settlement of the issue in the Madras High Court, the health ministry in a proactive action appointed Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC)'s secretary-cum-scientific director Dr GN Singh as DCGI. Dr Singh was given additional charge as the DCGI on February 21 this year.

The bone of contention between the government and the petitioner is the heath ministry's new recruitment rule. The IPGA secretary had challenged the health ministry's RR on the plea that the ministry has tailor-made the new rules to fit its nominee in the post of DCGI. As per the D&C Act, the required qualification for the post of DCGI is a degree in pharmacy, pharmaceutical chemistry or degree in medicine with specialization in clinical pharmacology or microbiology from a University established in India by law.

But the petitioner argues that the qualifications framed in the new RR is not in consonance with Rule 49(A) and 50(A) of the D&C Act. The qualification clause in the D&C Rules does not demand a post graduate in Chemistry for DCGI post. But, the RR seeks applications from those who are possessing post graduate degree in chemistry, biochemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry in addition to the prescribed qualifications in the Act. The experience prescribed in advertisement is also in violation of the experience norms stipulated in the drugs and cosmetics rules.