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Noting that the accusation by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) against the makers of Dolo-650 mg fever reducing tablet, of distributing freebies worth Rs 1,000 crore among doctors to prescribe their drug was a “serious issue and matter”, the SC asked the Centre to file a reply within 10 days to a PIL seeking directions on making pharma companies liable for giving doctors freebies to incentivise prescription of their drugs.

What the plea wants

• In its submission, the Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Association of India (FMSRAI) said that since the price of Dolo tablet of 500 mg potency is regulated by the Centre while those above that potency — such as Dolo 650 mg — can be priced at will by the manufacturer, the makers of Dolo incentivised doctors to prescribe Dolo 650 mg which was an “irrational dose combination.”
• The FMSRAI asked that the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) be converted into a law by the Centre to effectively monitor and take action against any freebies being doled out by pharma companies to doctors. However, the SC, which conceded that the allegations were “not music” to its ears, declined to pass any directions on passing a law, observing that it “cannot mandate that Parliament enacts a law.”

A larger issue

• The plea also argued that such incentives are aimed at pushing a higher profitable drug whose potency could pose a risk to the health and lives of people. It cited the example of Remdesivir which was excessively prescribed and sold during Covid-19 but was later found to have little to no effect on the coronavirus.
• Interestingly, earlier this year, the SC had ruled that pharma companies could not claim tax exemption on freebies given by them to doctors — this, after a plea by a pharma company Apex Laboratories which contended that it should be allowed to categorise freebies under tax exemption items as even though doctors are barred from accepting them, pharma companies weren’t barred from gifting them.

The Supreme Court on Friday set a deadline of three months for the trial court to simultaneously decide on framing of charges against the Elgar Parishad case accused and hear their pleas seeking discharge in the case.

The court noted…

• …that the trial against activists accused of indulging in anti-national activities is not progressing and they are languishing in custody for the past four years even as framing of charges has not been done.
• In its petition, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had said there are four accused in the case who are still to be arrested. The top court asked the agency to take steps to segregate the trial of the 15 arrested accused from the rest by filing appropriate application before the trial court and also declare the other four as proclaimed offenders.

The accused

• Of the 16 arrested, one of them, tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, died in custody. Two other accused — activist and law teacher Sudha Bhardwaj and Telugu poet Varavara Rao — have been granted bail. While Bhardwaj was granted default bail, Rao has recently been awarded bail on medical grounds.

The order

• The apex court in its order said, “The trial court should consider whether charges could be framed against the accused or not and their application seeking discharge be also heard simultaneously… The entire exercise is to be undertaken within three months.”
• The court passed the order while hearing the bail plea of Vernon Gonsalves who approached the court challenging the Bombay High Court’s refusal to grant him bail. He was arrested on August 28, 2018 and is in custody since then.

• A suspicious boat abandoned in the sea near Harihareshwar beach in Shrivardhan taluka of Raigad district in Maharashtra was seized after three AK-47 rifles were found in it on Thursday morning. The boat was found about 190 km from Mumbai by the local fishermen.
• Raigad Police sounded a high alert and imposed nakabandi at prima locations. A small life raft with some life jackets was found abandoned at Dive Agar beach, about 10 kms away from the suspicious boat at Harihareshwar beach.
• The 16-metre long boat belongs to an Australian couple and was headed to Europe from Muscat, said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also handles the state home department.
• Three AK-47 rifles, bullets and documents were found on the boat. Fadnavis said, “We can’t say why there was ammunition on the boat right. The matter is being investigated.” The local police, the anti-terror squad and central agencies are investigating the matter.
• No terror angle, as of now in the boat seizure case, said Fadnavis, “But investigation is going on. We can’t rule out any angle as of now. I am just sharing primary information so there is no panic.”
• The Australian couple were identified as Hana Laundergun and James Harbert, who abandoned the boat named Lady Han, when it developed engine trouble on June 26. Around 1 pm that day, the boat’s crew were rescued. The boat is owned by Hana. Her husband James is a captain, Fadnavis said.
• Fadnavis said, “The engine of the boat developed a snag and the occupants of the boat had to be rescued by a Korean warship. With water being choppy, the boat could not be towed and so it went adrift. Although the boat has been recovered and checked, all necessary precautions will be taken.” More here

• What: The Election Commission’s announcement that non-locals will be allowed to vote in Jammu and Kashmir drew a sharp reaction from the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party. However, the election timeline has not yet been announced.
• Who will vote: J&K is likely to have 20-25 lakh new voters — an expansion by about 33%. The EC is revising the electoral rolls. The last time J&K voted, there were 76 lakh voters. Non-locals will vote for the first time in J&K as an outcome of the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
• Uproar: Former chief ministers — Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah — criticised the move. NC president Farooq Abdullah, who heads the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), has convened an all-party meeting in Srinagar on August 22 to discuss the issue.
• Mehbooba Mufti said the move of the election authorities to allow outsiders residing ordinarily in Jammu and Kashmir for jobs, education or business to register as voters was the “last nail in the coffin of democracy here” as the BJP is trying to bring in 25 lakh of its voters through the backdoor.
• Omar Abdullah said, “Is the BJP so insecure about support from genuine voters of J&K that it needs to import temporary voters to win seats? None of these things will help the BJP when the people of J&K are given a chance to exercise their franchise.”
• When to expect an election? The EC is expected to publish an integrated draft electoral roll on September 15. Claims and objections could be filed till October 25. The same could be disposed of by November 10. J&K was put under central rule in June 2018 after the BJP-PDP alliance broke over policy differences between the two parties. More here

Often called the Muslim face of the right wing Hindutva party, the BJP, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Thursday moved the Supreme Court (SC) challengung the Delhi High Court’s (HC) order directing the Delhi Police to register an FIR against him in a rape case.

An angry HC

• Observing that “there seems to be a complete reluctance on the part of the police to even register an FIR”, the HC directed the Delhi Police to complete the investigation into the rape case and submit a detailed report to the Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) within three months.
• In doing so, the HC upheld the order of the MM that ordered the registration of the FIR despite an action taken report (ATR) filed by the Delhi Police which stated that as per the inquiry conducted by it, the allegations of the complainant were found to be unsubstantiated.
• Noting that an FIR is the “foundation for investigation of the offence complained of”, the HC said that “it is only after investigations that the police can come to the conclusion whether or not an offence had been committed and if so by whom.”

The case pertains to a complaint filed against Hussain in June 2018 alleging that he had raped a woman after administering her a “stupefying substance.”

Denial mode?

• Hussain, who sought an urgent listing of his appeal in the SC — which has agreed to hear the matter next week — on the basis that his “reputation” was at stake, added that since he was a “public figure”, he was being “wrongly and falsely implicated with a malicious intent and for malafide reasons and dishonest intention by the complainant.”
• Pleading against the registration of an FIR, Hussain argued that such a step would lead to his reputation being “irretrievably damaged” as the case was filed with the intention to wreak vengeance against him.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s daughter Anita Bose Pfaff said she will soon approach the Indian and the Japanese governments for a DNA test of the ashes at Tokyo’s Renkoji Temple. Thursday (August 18) marked the 77th death anniversary of Netaji, who — notwithstanding the mystery surrounding his demise — is widely believed to have died in a plane crash in Taiwan.

Previous attempts

• Pfaff, a German, said she had approached the Indian government for the DNA test when the Congress was in power but never got a reply.
• “This time, I won’t dillydally much longer…I would parallelly get in touch with the Japanese government,” she told PTI, adding technology advancement now offers the means for sophisticated DNA testing.

Probe panels

• Pfaff said resolving the mystery shrouding Bose’s life and bringing back the ashes to India would be a true tribute to the revolutionary as the country celebrates its 75th anniversary of Independence.
• Since Independence, India formed three inquiry commissions to unravel the mystery over Netaji’s disappearance.
• Two of them — the Shah Nawaz Commission and Khosla Commission, formed by the Congress governments — concluded that Bose died in an air crash. The third one — the Mukherjee Commission formed by the BJP-led NDA government had said he did not die in it.
• In 2015, the West Bengal government released 64 files on Netaji held by the Home Department. The Narendra Modi government in 2016 released 100 files on the legend.

• A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during evening prayers on Wednesday killed at least 21 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 33 others.
• Death toll may go up: There were fears the casualty numbers could rise further. On Thursday morning, one witness to the blast told the Associated Press he believed as many as 25 people may have been killed in the blast.
• Who’s behind this: There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The jihadist Islamic State (IS) has stepped up attacks targeting the Taliban and civilians since the former insurgents’ takeover last August.
• The Taliban claim they have defeated IS, but experts say the group remains a key security challenge for the hardline Islamists. While IS is a Sunni Islamist group like the Taliban, the two are bitter rivals and greatly diverge on ideological grounds.
• Economic crisis: Since regaining power, the Taliban have faced a crippling economic crisis as the international community, which does not recognize their government, froze funding to the country.
• Factional fight: Separately, the Taliban confirmed on Wednesday that they had captured and killed Mehdi Mujahid in western Herat province as he was trying to cross the border into Iran. Mujahid, a former Taliban commander, had turned against the organisation over the past year after opposing decisions made by its leaders in Kabul.

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif could take a decision on the next Army chief by mid-September. The current Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Bajwa (61), who was appointed in 2016, is set to retire in the last week of November.

Another extension?

• The army chief’s appointment is meant to be for three years, but Gen Bajwa was given an additional three-year term in 2019 after some political drama.
• Pakistan’s Parliament passed a law in January 2020, allowing the PM to extend the tenure of services chiefs at his discretion. The legislation had, however, fixed 64 as the age at which a service chief must be retired, which means Gen. Bajwa is eligible for another term.

But…

• A military source told the Dawn newspaper that Bajwa has communicated to those around him that he will retire in November.

The frontrunners

• Four of the six top Lt-Generals at the time of Gen Bajwa’s retirement will be from the same batch, while a fifth is senior to almost the entire lot, the Dawn report said.
• Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Lt Gen Azhar Abbas are among the six potential frontrunners who can replace Gen Bajwa as the next chief of Pakistan’s Army.
• Lt-Gen Abbas is the most experienced in Indian affairs among the current brass. Currently, he is the chief of general staff (CGS), effectively running the army with direct oversight of both operations and intelligence directorates at GHQ.