CASE NOTE

People for Better Treatment (PBT) V. Union of India

2020 SCC OnLine SC427

Writ Petition (Civil) Diary No(s). 10935/2020

(Before Justice N.V. Raman, Justice Sanjay Kaul, Justice B.R. Gavai)

Decided on April 30, 2020

Facts:

The petitioner filed the writ under the Article 32 of The Constitution of India to ask the court to
order the respondent to make changes in the treatment guidelines for seriously ill COVID 19
patients in ICU who are using combination of MCQ and AZM on the basis of recommendations
made by Canadian and American Reports. The petitioner said that the side effects are severe due
to which people are dying.

Issue:

The issue is whether the treatment suggested by the Canadian and American reports that using
the combination of MCQ and AZM is safe or not for treating the seriously ill COVID 19 patients
in ICU as patients are dying because of the severe side effects of the medication.

Law Involved:

Article 32 of The Constitution of India.

Judgement:

The court said that it will not be appropriate of it to give any directions regarding this issue. The
court ordered the Solicitor General to take the additional information from the petitioner through
e-mail and to keep the issue before the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) within 2
days. After giving the following directions, the petition was disposed off by the court.
Impact:

Through this order, the ICMR will deeply research over the other possible treatments. Through
this, it can be concluded that whether the treatment through the combination of MCQ and AZM
is safe or not and it should be continued or not.