The Supreme Court tore into the government on Tuesday, asking why the drug pricing system seems engineered to protect manufacturers rather than save lives. Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, hearing petitions on medicine prices, called the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) 'totally defunct.' The bench was not interested in technicalities. It wanted answers on why a system that serves the rich and the pharma lobby continues to operate with such blatant indifference.
The anger was sparked by a specific, damning example. A drug dealer’s wife was undergoing cancer treatment at a private hospital. The dealer, who knows the market, pointed out he could buy the chemotherapy injection for ₹11,000. The hospital refused to use that supply. Instead, it billed the patient ₹1,30,000 for the exact same vial. That is a markup of nearly 1,000%.
'Can you show any justification for this loot, please?' the bench demanded. 'Why this difference? Where does the money go?' The court labeled the hospital’s excessive margins 'dacoity.' It noted that patients in such situations have zero bargaining power. They are desperate, sick, and trapped.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, argued the government was 'constantly calibrating' its policies. The bench was unmoved. 'Your calibration is too wayward,' Justice Nath said bluntly. '₹11,000 to ₹1,30,000 is no calibration... When you talk of patients and life, should we have such capitalistic thinking?' The court signaled that vague promises of future regulation are no longer acceptable.
The bench reserved its verdict on the public interest litigation filed by advocate Kishan Chand Jain. Jain’s petition demands mandatory generic drug prescriptions, strict price controls on non-scheduled drugs, and statutory caps on medical device margins under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO). The court’s eventual ruling could fundamentally reshape how India prices life-saving treatments, forcing hospitals and manufacturers to justify every rupee they charge.