RICHARDSON HINDUSTAN LIMITED Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner No. 1 M/s. Richardson Hindustan Ltd. (referred to hereinafter as 'the petitioner-company') is a private company registered under the provisions of the Companies Act and is engaged inter alia in the business of manufacturing Ayurvedic medicines and drugs. The second petitioner is a shareholder of the petitionercompany and is also an officer of the petitioner-company. It is stated that the petitioner-company has two factories, one at Kalwi, Thana District, Maharashtra and the other at Annaram in Medak District Andhra Pradesh, where they manufacture an Ayurvedic medicine known as Vicks Vaporub and holds licences for manufacture of the said Vicks Vaporub. Vicks Vaporub is a product of Ayurvedic medicine being manufactured by the petitioner-company. The petitionercompany under the law i.e. the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (referred to hereinafter as 'the Act') and the rules framed thereunder is supposed to comply with the statutory provisions in regard to the labelling of Ayurvedic drugs. Sub-rule (3) of Rule 161 states that the particulars shall be either printed or written in indelible ink and shall appear in a conspicuous manner on the label of the innermost container of any Ayurvedic drug and on any other covering in which the container is packed. The label should contain the name and address of the manufacturer. It is stated that even though the word 'manufacturer' is not defined in the Act, therefore, the meaning of the manufacturer should be taken which is accepted in the common parlance i.e. a person who produces an article or who is responsible for manufacture. It is admitted that the petitioner-company is a manufacturer of the product mentioned above.

(2.) It is stated that on 26-11-1986 the nonpetitioner No. 2 i.e. the Drugs Inspector (Ayurveda), Udaipur visited the shop premises of one of the petitioner-company's dealers in Udaipur, namely, M/s. Jai Medicals at 62, Mandi-ki-Nal. Udaipur and examined the bottles of Vicks Vaporub being sold there. A note had been given by the Drugs Inspector that the address of the manufacturer has not been provided on the label but the address of the registered office has been mentioned. The inspection note is attached as Annex. 4 to the writ petition. The petitioner-company was informed by the dealer M/s. Jai Medicals of the note incorporated by the Drugs Inspector, respondent No. 2 vide letter dated 1-12-1986, a copy of which is attached as Annex.5 to the writ petition. It is stated that the petitionercompany had narrated the facts and informed the respondent No. 2 vide their letter Annex.6 which is said to have been personally delivered in the office of the respondent No. 2 in the month of December, 1986. It is alleged that the officers of the petitioner-company had visited Udaipur on 6-5-1986 and they were given threates by the respondent No. 2 that their material would be seized in case the top management of the petitioner-company did not come out personally and satisfy him about the compliance of the Rule 161(3)(iii). It is the case of the petitioner-company that in the market number of drugs are being sold where instead of showing the place of manufacturing of the drugs the address of registered office has been mentioned. It is submitted that the prevalent practice in the market is to give out the address of the registered office of the manufacturer and not of the factory and it is for the first time that an exception is being taken in the case of the petitioner-company. The petitioner-company is apprehensive of the fact that the nonpetitioner No. 2 is likely to take action against the petitioner on the ground of misbranded Ayurvedic drug and further submits that from the printing of the label itself it is very clear that no rule has been violated.

(3.) The petitioners have prayed to issue a writ of prohibition against the respondents restraining them from seizing and detaining Vicks Vaporub or any of the Ayurvedic drugs manufactured by the petitioner-company on the ground that the labels of the same do not mention the address of the manufacturing place of the said drugs, Vicks Vaporub.