"People Sitting Over India's Untapped Vaccine Manufacturing Potential Must Be Charged With Manslaughter ": Delhi High Court To Centre

Remarking that some people must be charged with manslaughter if they have been sitting over untapped potential, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre for not utilising the vaccine manufacturing capacity that India has.

A division bench comprising of Justice Manmohan and Justice Najmi Waziri observed thus:

"There is a lot of scope and infrastructure which is available for manufacturing of vaccines. This untapped potential has to be utilised. Your officers are not realising this."

The development came in a application filed by Panacea Biotech seeking release of an arbitral award passed earlier in its favour.

It has thus been stated by Panacea that it had manufactured trial batches of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in collaboration with Russian Direct Investment Fund (for short 'RDIF') and the process of manufacturing scale-up batches is on.

Therefore, it was further averred that if the awarded amount is not released the Centre, the whole process of manufacturing of vaccine may get derailed and delayed which will not be in the larger interest of the country.

Stating that there is a public emergency in India, the bench also went ahead to opine that hand holding of of manufacturing vaccines is the need of the hour which is not happening due to a "fear psychosis" of vigilance enquiry, audits and other police investigation.

"Tell them, this is not the time to be weary of these investigations and audit reports. This is leading to deaths today. Actually some people need to be charged with manslaughter for sitting over this untapped potential." The bench remarked.

Further suggesting that the Centre must fasten the process of giving clearance to samples of Panacea Biotech, the Bench remarked that the Government

The court also quizzed the Centre as to why a test was required for a vaccine which is being manufactured in India when there are exemptions from bridging trials provided for the ones being imported from outside India.

"Why you want them to go through a bridge trial, if you have made the bridge trial for the imported vaccine. You have done away with it for the imported vaccine. Why insist it for the domestic manufacturer but not for the manufacturer abroad." The Court remarked at the outset.

Recording the submissions of the parties, the bench posted the matter for further hearing for June 4.