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Published : 25 Aug 2025, 08:01 PM
The High Court has directed the government to set prices for life-saving medicines through the proper authority and publish them in the official gazette.
The ruling was issued on Monday by the bench of Justice Md Rezaul Hasan and Justice Bishwajit Debnath following lengthy hearings on a writ petition filed seven years ago.
Senior lawyer Manzill Murshid appeared for the petitioner, assisted by Advocate Sanjoy Mondal. Senior advocate SK Morshed represented the Association of Pharmaceutical Owners, while Deputy Attorney General Syed Ejaz Karim appeared for the state.
Ejaz Karim said the Drugs Control Ordinance of 1982 vested the government with the authority to regulate medicine prices. Acting under that law, the government set prices for 739 medicines in 1993.
However, on Feb 26, 1994, the Ministry of Health issued a circular restricting price controls to just 117 drugs, leaving prices of all others to be determined by pharmaceutical companies.
That circular was challenged in 2018 in a public interest writ petition by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).
After the initial hearing, a High Court bench of Justice Syed Md Dastagir Hossain and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir issued a rule on Jul 31, 2018, asking why the 1994 circular should not be declared illegal.
During the rule hearing, Advocate Murshid argued: “Section 11 of the Drugs Control Ordinance empowers the government to regulate medicine prices. Accordingly, in September 1993 the government fixed prices for 739 drugs through a gazette notification. But this power was curtailed by the 1994 circular, limiting government control to 117 drugs while giving manufacturers free rein to set prices for all others.”
He argued: “Medicines are essential for survival. Their prices are directly linked to citizens’ right to life. By restricting the government’s power and allowing companies to set prices, the circular infringed on that fundamental right.”
The original petition had been filed by Advocate Md Sarwar Ahad Chowdhury on behalf of HRPB.
Respondents in the case included the health secretary, the director general of health services, the director general of the Directorate of Drug Administration, and the president and secretary of the Association of Pharmaceutical Owners, among others.
