Fraud, Broad Daylight Dacoity with Patients: SC Laments Exorbitant Medicine Pricing, Flags Tenfold Retail Price Gap in Essential Cancer Drugs
The bench said the 10-fold markup on cancer medicines amounts to daylight robbery and a clear fraud on patients and the public exchequer.
- On Tuesday, September 22, 2026, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta condemned essential cancer medicine pricing, citing a drug sold to retailers for ₹2,700 but marked with an MRP of ₹27,000, calling it "broad daylight dacoity."
- Petitions filed before the court allege widespread unethical overpricing of essential medicines, urging stricter enforcement of the Drugs Order, 2013, to prevent disproportionate profit-making by retailers through unfair trade practices.
- Justice Mehta noted that 82 per cent of medicines are non-scheduled, creating pricing anomalies for drugs like Rosuvas; petitioner Kishan Chand Jain argued Jan Aushadhi Kendras account for less than 1 per cent of overall pharmaceutical sales.
- Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, stated the government is not approaching the litigation as an adversarial matter, while the bench observed that authorities responsible for action remain "absolutely silent."
- The Apex Court bench noted that inflated drug prices result in systemic fraud on the public exchequer, particularly when hospitals seek reimbursement under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, and posted the matter for further hearing on September 29, 2026.
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Fraud, broad daylight dacoity with patients: SC laments Exorbitant medicine pricing, flags tenfold retail price gap in essential cancer drugs
New Delhi: Noting the lack of adequate price controls on medicines, the Supreme Court recently flagged the wide disparity between the Price to Retailer (PTR) and Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of...
Blatant daylight dacoity: SC on 10-fold gap in cancer drug prices
The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the disparity in drug pricing with essential cancer drugs sold to consumers at a whopping ₹27,000 when the price at which it is sold to retailers is only ₹2,700, observing that this amounts to “broad daylight dacoity” and asked the government authorities why they fail to act on this crucial issue
Broad daylight dacoity: SC questions authorities’ silence on overpricing of essential cancer drugs - The Tribune
Pointing out that one drug carried an MRP of Rs 27,000 despite being supplied to retailers for Rs 2,700, Bench says ‘It’s very surprising that the authorities who are supposed to take action on this are silent’
The Supreme Court has expressed strong displeasure over the huge difference in the prices of cancer medicines and the in-house pharmacies of hospitals charging higher prices from patients.
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