The High Court on Monday upheld its order stopping the production and sale of medicines of 28 pharmaceutical companies for producing low quality medicine.

A HC bench comprising Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Ataur Rahman Khan passed the order after hearing a rule in this regard.

Talking to reporters, advocate Manzill Murshid said the court ordered Department of Drug Administration (DDA) to form a five- member committee on the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines of the companies, reports UNB.

The DDA was asked to form the committee with one member each from World Health Organisation (WHO), Parliament, Health Ministry, Department of Pharmacy of Dhaka University and Drug Administration.

Companies must apply to prove they meet the GMP guidelines, and the committee will consider their plea, said the advocate.

On 27 February, the court ordered the 28 companies to stop producing three types of medicines following a petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.

The 28 companies are- EMICO Pharmaceuticals Ltd, EZTek Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Bengal Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Benham Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Central Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Decent Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Dr Teams Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Guobang Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, Greenland Pharmaceuticals Ltd, iNova Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mac’s Drugs Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Medimet Laboratories Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Modern Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mystic Pharmaceuticals Ltd, National Laboratories Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Organic Health Care Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Oyster Pharma Pvt Ltd, Premier Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Prime Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Shima Pharmaceuticals Ltd, White Horse Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mamtaz Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Unique Pharmaceuticals Ltd, United Chemicals Pharmaceuticals Ltd, FNF Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Techno Drugs Limited Unit-1, Techno Drugs Limited Unit-2, Techno Drugs Limited Unit-3.

Advocate Manzil Morshed filed the petition on behalf of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, responding to a report titled ‘Low quality medicines of 34 companies still exist in market’, published by vernacular daily Samakal on June 28, 2016.