Mumbai: The Bombay High Court remarked on Friday that the Maharashtra Government must “act within a week” against Johnson & Johnson, if an adverse test report is given against its baby powder, in “public interest”.
A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and SG Dige has asked the government to inform by Jan 9 on whether it will take action within a week, in case of adverse report, and not delay like it did earlier.
Petition filed by J&J
“You want to test the sample, do it tomorrow. But if you think there is some problem, then you will act within one week. That is the public interest,” remarked Justice Patel.
The HC was hearing a petition filed by the firm, challenging two orders of the State Government – one dated Sept 15 by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Joint Commissioner and Licensing Authority cancelling its licence with effect from Dec 15, 2022; and second dated Sept 20 by the FDA Commissioner directing the company to immediately stop manufacturing and sale of baby powder.
The bench also turned down a request from the firm to sell the accumulated stock, which it was allowed to manufacture pending hearing in the petition.
The government had collected the samples in 2019, but sent it for testing only in 2022. Based on these reports, it imposed a ban on manufacturing and sale of its baby powder.
Justice Patel said, “This is a matter of some concern for everyone. If there is some problem with any pharmaceutical product, we want the state to act swiftly.”
“You took a sample in 2019 and then the notice was issued in 2022… You did not issue notice for three years. If we assume, the product was substandard, then what according to you (government) should have been done?” asked Justice Patel. “This is an impossible situation to assess. We do not know the factual situation as per quality,” he added.
