RASHTRASANT TUKADOJI MAHARAJ NAGPUR UNIVERSITYS

Dr. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR COLLEGE OF LAW, NAGPUR

14th JUSTA CAUSA NATIONAL LAW FESTIVAL
MOOT PROBLEM1

Ram Rahim Joseph (RRJ) is a right handed Indian Citizen who has been
living in the city of Nagpur since quite some time. As of the year 2015, his age is 49
years. He is a respected member of the society and is a well known figure in the
region around Nagpur.
That, on 25th December 2014, owing to Christmas, RRJ was celebrating
Christmas at a social function which was organized by a charity association. During
the function, RRJ suffered a small paralytic attack, which came to be diagnosed on
26 th December 2014 as a neoplasm in the left hemithorax, with erosion of ribs and
vertebrae detected. That, RRJ was getting treated in the Government Owned and
Controlled Medical College and Hospital at Sonegaon, (GOCMCHS) which is a
suburban area of Nagpur and was in the vicinity to RRJs house. The said neoplasm
was not benign, in situ, or malignant in nature.
That, the cardiothoracic surgeon as well as the neurosurgeon who were
treating RRJ knew that the condition of RRJ was critical and also that in order to save
RRJs live some drugs which are not normally available within India would have to be
administered, though their efficacy in RRJs case was questionable. While having a
casual chat with some friends over the weekend, one of the doctors happened to
mention this to Mr. Matrix, in the presence of the other doctor. Mr. Matrix owns and
controls a huge pharmaceutical company which is engaged in research and designing
of new drugs as well as manufacturing them.
During research, it came to be known that the special type of tumour that
Mr. RRJ was suffering from is in fact curable by 100 % when a combination of
specific drugs is administered to him. However, the said research was merely done via
using computer stimulation and no animate objects were tested with this finding.
Accordingly, a combination of Isothipendyl, Sotalol, Phencylidine and Paracetamol
came to be prepared by Mr. Matrixs company.
Subsequently, Devils Cure Inc., Mr. Matrixs company, applied to the
licensing authority for permission to manufacture this new combination drug by
1

Drafted by Deoul Pathak, Advocate, Nagpur

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making necessary payments as well by doing necessary paper work. However, the
data as is required to be submitted under clause (2) of the relevant section of the Drugs
and Cosmetics Act, 1940 did not come to be submitted. The entire procedure came to
be done on 2 nd February 2015. The said application came to be rejected on 3rd
February 2015.
Thereafter, on 4th, the next day, an application came to be made for
conducting clinical trials. The said application came to be allowed. That, Devils Cure
Inc. sought the tests to be conducted at GOCMCHS. The same request was also
allowed. The said trials at GOCMCHS were approved conditionally by the Ethics
Committee, subject to the following conditions:
a. That, consent of all patients being treated with the drug under testing
was mandatory in writing, in the form of an affidavit before the duly
qualified notary and the said affidavit was to be prepared in the
language which was understood by the patient
b. That, consent of patients relative (necessarily a class one heir) was
necessary in writing, in the form of an affidavit before the duly
qualified Executive Magistrate and the said affidavit was to be
prepared in the language which was understood by the patient as well
as his relative in common
c. That, the patient gave up his right to file any proceedings before any
judicial / quasi judicial body, in case of any medical negligence
d. That, the patient was made aware of all the treatment administered,
in writing
e. That, it would be mandatory for Devils Cure Inc. to adhere to all
provisions of necessary Indian laws regarding public liability
insurance.
That, needless to mention, RRJ was one of the subjects who was tested with the said
newly prepared combination drug.
That, unfortunately, due to complications arising in treatment, the
DNA of RRJ underwent a small change, which resulted in his ability to do loco motor
movements of the last toe of the left leg being hampered. This was despite of the ex
majore cautela being taken by the Doctors treating RRJ. Unfortunately, the situation
and condition of RRJ as demonstrated also required for administration of Imatinib
Mesylate, which is a therapeutic drug for chronic myeloid leukemia, the sole
marketing rights for which, then, due to some interim orders were with another
company called as Baarish, whose drugs came to be known to the Doctors and Mr.

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Matrixs company by way of their coming soon teasers, claiming cure to the said
disease. Since, the drugs of Baarish were also under trials, with due permission from
the Ethical Committee in Indian Institute for Medical Sciences (IIMS), it became
mandatory for Devils Cure Inc. to add Baarish as a co-applicant in its application for
permission of clinical trials, by way of an amendment. The said amendment was
permitted.
Being aggrieved by this utter hopelessness, RRJ filed a criminal
proceeding against both the Doctors - cardiothoracic surgeon and neurosurgeon
Dr.Mr. Tea and Dr.Ms. Coffee alleging medical negligence and consequent attempt to
murder, grievous hurt, hurt, bodily harm, et cetera. That, RRJ, through his relative
Akku Yadav also filed a proceeding before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal
Forum on the same grounds of medical negligence claiming a compensation of Rs.
8,00,00,000/- (Rupees Eight Crores Only). That, RRJ also filed a Writ Petition before
the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court praying that he should be granted a
permanent sum of money for the harassment done to him on account of those medical
trials out of the funds and proceeds of the income of the pharmaceutical companies as
his share and contribution to the drugs being sold in the market cannot be negated.
The said Writ Petition was dismissed. The Letters Patent Appeal before the Division
Bench is pending. Additionally, another proceeding was also filed by RRJ against
Dr.Mr. Tea and Dr.Ms. Coffee alleging breach of confidentiality and breach of right to
privacy as his medical details were leaked to Mr. Matrix, without his consent.
That, Baarish Pvt. Ltd. filed a infringement of patent suit against
Devils Cure Inc. before the Principal Civil Judge of Original Jurisdiction at Nagpur
claiming that since they were co-applicants in the application for medical trials, the
combination drugs cannot be exploited by Devils Cure Inc. alone. In addition, they
sought sharing of license / grant of compulsory licensing in their favour from the
IPAB at Mumbai.
Since the turnover of Baarish Pvt. Ltd. was more than INR
700,00,00,000/- (Rupees Seven Hundred Crores only) and that of Devils Cure Inc.
was barely INR 2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lakhs only), and also since Devils Cure Inc.
felt that all the litigations were being sponsored by Baarish Pvt. Ltd., Devils Cure Inc.
filed an application before the Competition Commission of India alleging misuse /
abuse of dominant position in the market.
In the meantime, due to a lot of publicity / newspaper reports,
Causes in Common, a very reputed NGO based in New Delhi, filed an application
under Section 6(1) of the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, in the nature of a PIL,
by using the proviso thereto, claiming compensation for RRJ and his family members.
Similarly, owing to the widespread reporting in newspapers, the Medical Council of

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India along with the Indian Medical Association jointly filed criminal proceedings
against Baarish Pvt. Ltd., Devils Cure Inc., the Ethics Committee of GOCMCHS,
Dr.Mr. Tea and Dr.Ms. Coffee (jointly and severally) for offences punishable under
the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, read along with the Rules framed
thereunder and also the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable
Advertisement) Act, 1954.
All this counter litigations drew the attention of the Medical Council
of India and they approached the Supreme Court for appointing a special judge for
deciding all the litigations together, regardless of jurisdictions, (territorial, pecuniary
or otherwise), regardless of hierarchy of judges, et cetera. Considering the same to be
a one of special case, and falling under the rarest of rare cases, (for RRJ died during
the pendency of this application), the Supreme Court allowed the application and
directed that all the matters shall be heard by the Special Division Bench of the
Nagpur Bench of the Honble High Court of Judicature at Bombay.
The composite matter is fixed for final arguments before the
Special Division Bench in RRJ, MCI, IMA, CiC (versus) Devils Cure Inc., Baarish
Pvt. Ltd., Ethics Committee of GOCMCHS and Dr.Mr. Tea and Dr.Ms. Coffee, where
all the above mentioned issues are sufficiently proved and other medical terms are to
be covered using documentary evidence at the stage of final arguments. The said writ
petition is listed for arguments on 6 th March 2016 as per High Court website.
Devils Cure Inc. and Baarish Pvt. Ltd. have filed a writ petition
(Devils Cure Inc. and Baarish Pvt. Ltd. (versus) State of Maharashtra, Union of India,
RRJ and others) before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court inter alia
challenging the applicability and constitutional validity on the following grounds:
a. That the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable
Advertisement) Act, 1954, and Drugs and Cosmetics Act, are in violation of
the principles laid down under Article 14 and Article 19(1)(g) of the
Constitution of India
b. That, the petition filed by RRJ against them for breach of privacy and
confidentiality is not maintainable, for the same is not a fundamental right
under Article 21 of the Constitution of India
c. That, another limb of arguments is that the Drugs and Magic Remedies
(Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954, and Drugs and Cosmetics Act
have been passed by the Central Government in complete violation of the
law and especially the provisions of the Schedule VII to the Constitution of
India as Health is a Subject at Entry no. 6 in List II and therefore, the
Central Government had no locus to make the law in the first place.

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That, the respondents have filed a reply and relied upon various factors, some of them
being Entry 19 and 26, of List III of Schedule VII, amongst others and have invoked
the Doctrine of Eclipse, Occupied Field, Pith and Substance, et cetera to support their
arguments and opposed the writ petitions. Argue accordingly.

Notes for Arguments: (Guidelines for Participants)

1. Teams are expected to argue the Writ Petition - (Devils Cure Inc. and Baarish
Pvt. Ltd. (versus) State of Maharashtra, Union of India, RRJ and others) before
the Nagpur Bench of the Honble High Court of Judicature at Bombay only.
2. However, teams are expected to draft their arguments by keeping in mind the
contradictory stances taken by each party, against each other, in other
litigations as well.
3. Certain provisions of law have been intentionally not provided for / have been
provided for in an incomplete manner. The teams are expected to fill up the
same.

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