KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has restrained the federal and provincials’ institutions like the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Drug Regulatory Authority, the Customs Department and others from taking any coercive action against the petitioners.
The Indus Laboratories (Private) Limited, Dynatis Pakistan (Private) Limited, Indus Pharma (Private) Limited and others filed several constitutional petitions against raids on their premises by the respondents on the enlistment of food supplements as drugs.
While the hearing of the petitions, a two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah also issued notices to the respondents and directed them to file their respective comments on the next date of hearing. The court adjourned the hearing for January 14, 2017.
Earlier, the counsel for the petitioners stated that petitioners were importers, manufacturers and purveyors of foods supplements, dietary products and nutritional supplements. According to the importers, the respondents issued notices to the petitioners which required the enlistment of food supplements as drugs and due to the compliance of the illegal orders, the Drug Regulatory Authority chief drug controllers of all the provinces, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), FIA director general and others started conducting illegal raids upon the petitioners for having medicinal contents in the food supplements.
According to the importers, there were numerous instances of coercive proceedings initiated against them for dealing in food supplements, which proceedings were then found to be baseless.
The counsel argued that dietary supplements were eaten or taken by mouth and were regulated in USA law as a type of food rather than a type of drug.
Citing Secretary of the bMinistry of National Health Services, Drug Regulatory Authority, Chief Drug Controllers Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, drug inspectors of Islamabad, the FBR chairman, FIA director general, secretary foods, chief collector, Collectorate of Customs Appraisement West and others as respondents, the importers pleaded the court to declare that the respondents have no jurisdiction in regulation of the import, manufacture, market or sale of food supplements.
They also pleaded the SHC to permanently restrain them from regulating (directly and/ or indirectly) the import, manufacture, marketing and/ or sale of food supplements.
