The Lawyers Collective and Medecins Sans Frontieres—Access Campaign welcome the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion’s (DIPP) initiative to seek views and comments on its “Draft Rules” (see below) to further amend the Patent Rules, 2003. We would like to submit our comments jointly on the Draft Rules (see below), particularly on Rules pertaining to patent prosecution highway and constitution of a two-member bench to dispose applications filed under section 25(1) of the Patents Act, 1970 (the Act).
The fundamental right to self-identified gender under Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution stands violated blatantly. With only four MPs addressing the debate, the Bill passed by the Lok Sabha is a washout. The Rajya Sabha must now resist, especially since it has already passed ‘The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014’ in April 2015.
In a reply to the Punjab CM dated 9 August 2018, the Minister of State for Finance – Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla stated:- there is no need for any further amendment to enhance the punishment/penalty for cases under the NDPS Act, 1985, at present.
The suggestion is completely out of step with the current line of thinking on drug control, internationally and nationally.