Mumbai: Maharashtra government yesterday got an earful from the Bombay High Court for not convening any meetings with chemists association since September this year to address their problems.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha was hearing a PIL challenging the three-day strike declared by chemists across the city.
Nearly 6,000 chemists in the city and 75,000 across the state have declared a three-day strike from today to protest the action initiated against errant chemists by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) for not complying with the rules prescribed in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
The bench was, however, informed that the strike has been called off on the condition that the government holds a meeting with the association and addresses their problems.
The court was told that the committee formed by the government in September this year had not convened any meeting till November.
“On December 4, the chemists association issued a notice to the committee after which a meeting was called on December 12 but the president of the association could not attend.
Hence another meeting has been scheduled on December 19 in Nagpur,” the lawyer appearing for the association said.
“Why has the government not held meeting since September? The committee was appointed specifically to hear the problems of the chemists. You (government) are also not taking this seriously,” the high court said.
The court has now posted the matter for hearing on December 24.
Since July this year, the FDA has booked close to 35 chemists in Maharashtra, of which seven operate in Mumbai, for errant practices, like not maintaining adequate records while dispensing abortion drugs.
The regulator has also issued 2,100 show cause notices to chemists across the state.
