Courts cannot solve AIDS issue, says SC

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Courts cannot solve AIDS issue, says SC

RAKESH BHATNAGAR

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2002 11:24:55 PM ]

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said that it cannot decide the

controversy whether HIV virus causes AIDS. ``The controversy is not

capable of judicial determination nor is judicially manageable'', the

court said while dismissing a public interest petition seeking

certain directions to the Union government including an end to

administering of toxic drugs to HIV positive suspected patients.

Petitioner Joint Action Council (Kannur) said even the scientist who

discovered HIV was unable to isolate the virus. Unless and until it

was isolated and there was evidence to show that a person suffered

from AIDS, the government should not put the individual on such

medicines or drugs or injections, which were confirmed to be ``lethal

and toxic,'' worse than the disease itself, petitioner's counsel

Kamlesh Jain said.

Later, Union government told the court that it was a global problem.

A global strategy was being devised to fight an epidemic which is

spread over the world.

A Bench comprising Justice R C Lahoti and Justice Brijesh Kumar,

while rejecting the petition, said,``UNO is also involved in devising

the strategy and making the funds available for fighting the

epidemic''.

The court hoped that the Central government may consider the

representation made by the petitioner .``We have no reason to assume

why the government may not take into consideration and keep them in

view while devising any policy'' on AIDS.

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