This follows a petition filed by the Bulk Drug Manufacturers' Association (BDMA), which represents over 300 domestic drug firms, alleging that the eight drugs --- cefadroxil, cloxacilin, theophylline, trimethoprim, norfloxacin, salbutamol, ciprofloxacin and sulphamethazole -- had been "wrongfully" included under the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO). The next date of hearing has been fixed at September 28.

The latest court directive comes after the government had earlier failed to comply with an interim ruling issued on January 7, 1999, urging the respondents to furnish all requisite information to support the inclusion of these eight drugs under the DPCO.

The January 7 interim ruling issued by justice Devinder Gupta and justice JB Goel of the Delhi HC specified that "no punitive action be taken against the members of the petitioner association based upon the inclusion of eight drugs within the ambit of price control". The court had further observed that, "In case there is no legal objection, let the respondents supply the requisite information sought for in this application."

A division bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising justice Arun Kumar and justice Manmohan Sarin, on May 26, 1999, however, decided to extended the earlier stay.

The BDMA had in January 1998 taken the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority and the Centre to court challenging the duo's allegedly ad-hoc and arbitrary price control policy. The BDMA had, in its petition, made a detailed statement to prove ex-facie that the eight drugs had been wrongfully included under price control.

The drug body has, in its petition, accused the government of not adhering to its own price-control guidelines and has urged the court to declare the DPCO 1995 as "invalid and void" or alternatively "issue a writ of mandamus or order" directing the government to include/exclude various drugs marketed in the country as per para 22.7.2 of the drugs policy of 1994.