'Aren't you ashamed?': Bombay HC to Maha govt on failing to procure, allocate Remdesivir

The Bombay High Court pulled up the Maharashtra government on Wednesday for its extremely 'callous behaviour' towards the issue of procuring and distributing Remdesivir injections for COVID-19 patients and said the authorities are shirking their responsibilities. The criticism by the Nagpur bench of the HC came in the backdrop of a nationwide struggle for the anti-viral drug which is critical for Coronavirus patients.

A division bench of Justices SB Shukre and SM Modak was disappointed that its April 19 order, directing the state government to supply 10,000 Remdesivir vials to Nagpur on that very day was not complied to fully.

Coming down heavily on the state, the court said that it was ashamed to be a part of this "nasty and evil society" and was unable to do anything for the patients of Maharashtra. The bench was hearing a bunch of petitions on the issue of the pandemic, lack of medical facilities in hospitals and the hurdles being faced by affected people.

The bench noted that the Joint Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Nagpur, and the Additional Collector have made contradictory statements in the affidavits on why the order was not complied with.

“We find that these officers have now started to shirk their responsibilities in giving certain relief to COVID-19 patients and in a way, they are also on the path to violate their fundamental duties,” the court observed. It decided to refrain from passing any adverse order against the authorities and gave them an opportunity to correct themselves.

The Joint Commissioner (FDA), in his affidavit, said the Maharashtra government has no authority to control, distribute and allocate Remdesivir and that the process is handled by Mumbai-based Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd. He said that pharma companies send vials to their depots in Maharashtra from where they are dispatched to hospitals. The affidavit also noted that there is a shortage of Remdesivir in Maharashtra, the worst COVID-19-affected state.

'Govt shirking its responsibility'

The bench then pointed out that on the last hearing it was told that a state-level committee was appointed to allocate the anti-viral drugs to hospitals across districts in Maharashtra.

"Whose responsibility is allocation? This is highly objectionable. This shows extreme callousness and now the government is trying to shirk its responsibility. Is it not the state governments job to find a solution at its level?" Justice Shukre said.

The bench also noted that the authorities are not providing any relief to coronavirus patients and are refusing to even comply with court orders.

"Are you not ashamed of yourselves? We are ashamed to be a part of this nasty and evil society where we are not able to do anything for the unfortunate patients of Maharashtra,” Justice Shukre said. “What nonsense is going on here...you (government) won’t do anything on your own and when we are trying to provide a solution you do not follow that too. You cannot walk away from your responsibilities," the court said.

The bench directed the court-appointed COVID-19 Committee, headed by the Nagpur Divisional Commissioner, to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday on procurement of Remdesivir vials on an urgent basis for Nagpur.

The bench also took note of a recent incident in Mumbai where police busted a Gujarat-based trying to sell 60,000 vials of Remdesivir in the black market. It directed the Nagpur police to carry out periodical checks, surprise raids and inspections to stop such malpractices. Nagpur Collector Ravindra Thakare told the court that around 4,000 vials of Remdesivir are expected to arrive on Wednesday.

(With inputs from agency)