Challenges to NPPA Price Notifications and the Vires of Broad-Based Price Ceilings Under DPCO 1995

sketch of the Bombay High Court
Case
M/S PHARMED LIMITED AND ANR v. UNION OF INDIA AND 3 ANR (Bombay High Court, 22-09-2026)
Law
Essential Commodities Act, Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, Administrative Law.

Highlights of the Judgment:

  • Examination of the statutory mechanism for fixing ceiling and retail prices under paragraphs 7 and 9 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995.
  • Analysis of whether broad-based notifications treating any formulation containing scheduled drugs as subject to price ceilings are ultra vires DPCO 1995.
  • Interpretation of scheduled formulation and whether trace amounts of bulk drugs permit automatic application of unrelated price ceiling notifications.
  • Judicial review of administrative overreach by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority in bypassing mandatory costing formulas.
  • Dependency of recovery proceedings under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, on the validity of underlying price demands.
  • Principles governing interest calculation on alleged overcharged amounts when delays are attributable to regulatory authorities.