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A plea has been filed in Supreme Court for quashing the liberalized pricing &  accelerated national Covid19 vaccination strategy & for declaring Covishield vaccine as an essential commodity. 

“Vaccine is an Essential Commodity it is necessary and expedient that the Union Government declare the Covishield vaccine as an essential commodity and to announce an affordable and no profit  price invoking the powers under Section-3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 for maintaining or increasing supplies of the essential commodity and for securing the equitable distribution of vaccine and to ensure availability at fair prices.”, the plea states.

It has been argued that Serum Institute of India has neither invented the vaccine nor is paying any substantial royalty to the inventors for the time of the pandemic & has therefore obtained the sub license for the avowed purpose of making the vaccine accessible to lower and middle income countries like India at no profit cost pricing or minimal profit pricing.  

The plea preferred by Chirumamilla Kranthi Kumar & filed through Advocate on Record Mr V. Elancheziyan states that the acts of Serum Institute is in violation of the avowed IP policy and stipulations of the Inventor Oxford University. In this context, the petitioner has averred that profiteering of Serum Institute of India at jacked up prices to the tune of over 380% of the already profit making prices would severely limit the access to the lifesaving vaccine in the midst of the pandemic and cause consumer harm. 

The same was listed before the Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice LN Rao & Justice S Ravindra Bhatt today but since Supreme Court's server was down, the matter has been adjourned for Thursday.

The petitioner has averred that the function of producing and supplying the strategic vaccine during the expedient and emergency circumstances of the pandemic is a public function and that premising on the discriminatory Vaccine Pricing strategy of the Union government would drain the coffers of the already incapacitated state governments during the pandemic which  would impact the state’s ability to utilise the money on critical medical infrastructure. 

In this context, the petitioner has averred that Clause 8(ii)  of the “Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National Covid19 Vaccination Strategy”  allows the vendors to choose the prices at which they would sell 50% of the vaccines produced at a price other than that which is sold to the Central Government (157.5 INR) which is arbitrarily and unreasonably discriminating for the the State Governments and the Non-Government actors like Private Hospitals without any basis. 

Further, the petitioner by relying on the established principles of competition law have averred that the Serum Institute is holding a dominant & monopolistic position in the Covid-19 vaccine market of India holding over 80% of the market share & is resorting to profiteering and consumer harm despite the same vaccine being sold in developed markets like European Union (EU) for 2-3 USD(US Dollars) which is considerably lesser than the prices sold in India. 

In light of the above, the petitioner apart from declaring the liberalized vaccination policy as arbitrary & Covishield Vaccine as an essential drug has sought relief for issuance of writ in the nature of mandamus for passing an order to correct the discriminatory pricing of Covishield as announced by SII i.e 400 INR and 700 INR by imposing a price ceiling of 157 INR invoking the special powers under Clause19 of the DPCO, 2013 and making the vaccine available even to the State Governments and private hospitals at 157 INR, the price at which the Union Government of India procures till the pandemic lasts or appoint a fact finding committee to ascertain the true cost price of the covishield vaccine and mandating for selling the vaccine such ascertained price with a cap on profits during the time of pandemic. Further, the plea also seeks for issuance of writ for correcting the monopolised market and issuing compulsory licences to other vaccine manufacturers so that the sub-licensee SII cannot resort to market and pricing distortion.