HC asks committee to give recommendation on veg, non-veg ingredients in drugs

The Delhi High Court has asked a committee, constituted by a statutory advisory board on ayurveda, to give within 10 days its recommendations on determining vegetarian and non-vegetarian ingredients in drugs.

The court’s direction came on an allegation of “unlawful use” of a non-vegetarian ingredient by Patanjali in one of its dental care product.

Justice Subramonium Prasad noted that the committee was constituted to determine the criteria by which raw materials used in the production of drugs could be categorised into “veg, non-veg or more categories”.

“It is expected that the committee, so constituted, shall give its recommendations within a period of 10 weeks from today,” the court said in a recent order.

The court’s order came on a petition by lawyer Yatin Sharma seeking a direction to the Centre to initiate appropriate action against Patanjali for misleading customers by selling “Divya Manjan” with a “green dot”.

The petitioner also sought directions to recall the range and mark the same with a “red mark” to show that the product contains non-vegetarian ingredients.

The court, in its order, noted that pursuant to a complaint made by the petitioner, the Ministry of Ayush revealed that the Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani Drugs Technical Advisory Board (ASUDTAB) has recommended the constitution of a committee to determine the criteria by which raw materials used in drugs can be categorised into “veg, non-veg or more categories” as such interpretation depended on various religious, ethical and regional considerations.

It further noted that in a communication sent to the petitioner in August last year, the ministry also said there was no provision to mention any sign or mark to show that the product contained non-vegetarian material under Rule 161 of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, and closed the proceedings in the petition.