HC strikes down cases against Delhi-based oncology drugs firm

The Bombay high court has struck down seven criminal proceedings against oncology drugs manufacturer Fresenius Kabi Oncology for illegally removing Narkya trees from the forest. The trees' barks yield Camptothecin, a raw material used in the manufacture of some oncology drugs. The court ruled that Camptothecin is not a forest produce and therefore the company cannot be prosecuted for illegal removal of forest produce.

MUMBAI: In a reprieve for Delhi-based oncology drugs manufacturer Fresenius Kabi Oncology Ltd, the Bombay high court has struck down seven criminal proceedings against the company for illegally removing Narkya trees (Nothapodyts nimmoniana) – whose barks yield Camptothecin, an important raw material in the manufacture some oncology drugs – from the forest.

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In April 2005, the forest department had arrested two persons, Jagdish Dhavale and Chanchal Shaikh, for allegedly felling Narky trees from Chandoli National Park in western Maharashtra for extracting Camptothecin from its bark. Forest officials had claimed to have unearthed the entire chain – from villagers who used to cut Narkya trees illegally at the behest of Dhavale and Shaikh to the firm where Camptothecin was extracted from the bark of the trees and eventually to Fresenius Kabi Oncology, whose Kolkata unit was using the extract for manufacturing oncology drugs.

In all, 27 offences were registered, and 223 persons were booked in connection with the illegal removal of Narkya trees. Between 2006 and 2008, Fresenius Kabi Oncology and its factory manager were named in seven criminal proceedings initiated before judicial magistrates at Shahuwadi in Kolhapur district and Shirala in Sangli district.

In 2010 and 2011, the company filed a petition in the high court for quashing the criminal proceedings, contending that it had purchased Camptothecin from another firm, Coral Drugs Pvt Ltd, and had absolutely no knowledge that the chemical was extracted from illegally removed Narkya trees.

Fresenius Kabi Oncology further contended that since Camptothecin was not a forest produce, neither it nor any of its representatives could be prosecuted for illegal removal of forest produce. Its counsel also referred to a supreme court decision stating Camptothecin was not forest produce.

The division bench of justices AS Gadkari and SC Chandak accepted the contentions and struck down all criminal proceedings pending against the drugs manufacturer. “Once it is authoritatively held by the apex court that Camptothecin is not a forest produce, question of holding otherwise does not arise herein. In this background, prosecution of the petitioners in impugned criminal cases is unwarranted,” the bench said on December 22. It struck down the proceedings against the company, saying continuing it would amount to abuse of process of law.