Scrap panel on patents: CPM to govt

The government is under strong pressure from its Left party allies to scrap the Technical Expert Group on Patent Laws headed by R A Mashelkar, former chief of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

The CPI (M) Politburo today said the government should reject Mashelkar's request to re-draft the report and instead disband the group.

Senior CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu said the admissions that the report had reproduced portions of a UK-based report on patents was a "national shame and embarrassment" because the entire developing world looks to India for intellectual leadership.

Basu added that Mashelkar's offer to rewrite the report should not be accepted.

"It is for the government, especially the prime minister, to scrap the committee and reconstitute it. The new expert body should not include anybody associated with Mashelkar committee and should comprise persons with intellectual integrity and commitment to uphold the common man's interests," he demanded.

CPI national secretary D Raja said the entire exercise of the Mashelkar committee was to "serve the interest of multinationals".

"This committee has sullied the image of the country. This committee must go. The Left parties will raise this issue in Parliament," he said.

On its part, a stunned government is considering the options available to it on this issue. Ajay Dua, secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, to whom Mashelkar had written requesting the withdrawal and three months to write a fresh report, said the government has not yet taken a view on Mashelkar's proposal.

Mashelkar had on Wednesday told Business Standard that he had spoken to Dua on the phone. "He had agreed to my request," he said.

Amid the controversy, Novartis AG, the Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company that had submitted the Mashelkar panel report in its case against the Indian patent law at the Chennai High Court, today clarified that it is merely seeking clarity on Indian patent laws.

"We have just learned from press articles that the Mashelkar Committee report was withdrawn. It would be inappropriate for us to comment on this action or on any potential impact it may or may not have on the legal case challenging the denial of our patent application for Glivec or section 3(d) of the Indian patent law", said Novartis managing director Ranjit Shahani.