UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — HC allows cancer patient to join plea on medicine prices
Q1. Under the Patents Act, 1970, an application for a compulsory licence on the ground that a patented medicine is not available to the public at a reasonably affordable price may be made in which one of the following ways?
- A. By any person interested, to the Central Government, at any time after the expiry of three years from the date of publication of the patent application
- B. By any person interested, to the Controller, at any time after the expiry of two years from the date of sealing of the patent
- C. By any person interested, to the Controller, at any time after the expiry of three years from the date of grant of the patent
- D. By any interested Indian manufacturer, to the Appellate Board, at any time after the expiry of three years from the date of grant of the patent
Q2. Before granting a compulsory licence, the Controller must consider whether the applicant's efforts to obtain a licence from the patentee on reasonable terms failed within a reasonable period. Under the Patents Act, 1970, what is the longest span ordinarily treated as that 'reasonable period'?
- A. Three months, reckoned from the date on which the applicant first approached the patentee for a licence
- B. Six months, reckoned from the date on which the applicant first approached the patentee for a licence
- C. Twelve months, reckoned from the date on which the applicant first approached the patentee for a licence
- D. Three years, reckoned from the date on which the patent was granted to the patentee by the Controller
Q3. The Patents Act, 1970 dispenses with the requirement that a compulsory licence applicant must first have attempted to obtain a voluntary licence from the patentee. In how many distinct situations is this requirement so dispensed with?
- A. Two — national emergency and other circumstances of extreme urgency alone
- B. Three — national emergency, other circumstances of extreme urgency, and public non-commercial use
- C. Four — national emergency, other circumstances of extreme urgency, public non-commercial use, and establishment of anti-competitive practices by the patentee
- D. Five — the four commonly cited situations, together with every patent relating to a medicine listed as life-saving
Q4. Consider the following statements comparing the compulsory licensing routes available under the Patents Act, 1970:
1. Under Section 92, the grant of a compulsory licence is preceded by a declaration made by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.
2. Section 92A provides for the grant of a compulsory licence for the manufacture and export of patented pharmaceutical products to a country having insufficient or no manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector.
3. Like Section 84, Section 92 requires an applicant to wait until three years have elapsed from the date of grant of the patent.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Under Section 92, the grant of a compulsory licence is preceded by a declaration made by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.
- Section 92A provides for the grant of a compulsory licence for the manufacture and export of patented pharmaceutical products to a country having insufficient or no manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector.
- Like Section 84, Section 92 requires an applicant to wait until three years have elapsed from the date of grant of the patent.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q5. With reference to the constitutional and statutory basis of the right to health in India, consider the following:
1. The Supreme Court has read the right to health into Article 21 as a facet of the right to life.
2. In Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity v State of West Bengal, the Court held that failure of a government hospital to provide timely medical treatment to a person in need violates Article 21.
3. Rajasthan has enacted a state law creating statutory health entitlements, namely the Rajasthan Right to Health Act, 2023.
4. In March 2025, the Supreme Court directed the Union Government to bring the in-house pharmacies of private hospitals within Schedule-I of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- The Supreme Court has read the right to health into Article 21 as a facet of the right to life.
- In Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity v State of West Bengal, the Court held that failure of a government hospital to provide timely medical treatment to a person in need violates Article 21.
- Rajasthan has enacted a state law creating statutory health entitlements, namely the Rajasthan Right to Health Act, 2023.
- In March 2025, the Supreme Court directed the Union Government to bring the in-house pharmacies of private hospitals within Schedule-I of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 4 only
Q6. As judicially interpreted in India, the 'right to health' under Article 21 is best described as which one of the following?
- A. An absolute guarantee that every resident will receive free treatment for any ailment at any hospital, public or private, wholly at the cost of the State
- B. An enforceable facet of the right to life, obliging the State to provide health services, including timely treatment at government hospitals
- C. A principle confined to Part IV of the Constitution, expressly non-justiciable and therefore incapable of enforcement through writ jurisdiction
- D. A statutory entitlement created by the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 and enforceable only before the national price regulator
Q7. A public interest litigation asking a High Court to direct the Government to make a patented life-saving drug affordable is maintainable under a writ power whose scope extends beyond the enforcement of fundamental rights. That power is conferred by:
- A. Article 32 — the remedy before the Supreme Court for enforcement of the fundamental rights conferred by Part III
- B. Article 136 — special leave of the Supreme Court to appeal from any judgment or order of any court or tribunal
- C. Article 227 — the power of superintendence of a High Court over all courts and tribunals within its territories
- D. Article 226 — the power of a High Court to issue writs, directions and orders, exercisable for purposes beyond Part III as well
Q8. Consider the following propositions about public interest litigation as developed by the Indian judiciary:
1. The traditional rule of locus standi has been relaxed so that a member of the public may move the court on an issue concerning the people.
2. Public interest litigation is one of the subjects covered by the Supreme Court's Restatement of Indian Law project, along with legislative privilege and contempt of court.
3. A proceeding in the nature of public interest litigation necessarily abates on the death of the original petitioner and cannot thereafter be continued by the court.
4. A petition under Article 32 is a constitutional remedy for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of citizens.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- The traditional rule of locus standi has been relaxed so that a member of the public may move the court on an issue concerning the people.
- Public interest litigation is one of the subjects covered by the Supreme Court's Restatement of Indian Law project, along with legislative privilege and contempt of court.
- A proceeding in the nature of public interest litigation necessarily abates on the death of the original petitioner and cannot thereafter be continued by the court.
- A petition under Article 32 is a constitutional remedy for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of citizens.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 3 and 4
Q9. In the suo motu proceeding titled 'In Re Exorbitant Pricing of Life Saving Patented Medicines', how many expert institutions has the Kerala High Court directed to render an opinion on whether Palbociclib can be safely substituted for Ribociclib?
- A. Three institutions
- B. Four institutions
- C. Five institutions
- D. Six institutions
Q10. India's first compulsory licence, granted in 2012 over the anti-cancer drug sorafenib tosylate, was issued by which authority?
- A. The Drugs Controller General of India in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- B. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
- C. The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, acting through the Patent Office at Mumbai
- D. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Q11. How many patent offices function in India under the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks?
- A. Four
- B. Five
- C. Six
- D. Eight
Q12. Which one of the following is the principal provision of the TRIPS Agreement under which a WTO member may authorise use of a patented invention without the consent of the right holder?
- A. Article 27, which obliges members to exclude all pharmaceutical products from patentability on grounds of public health
- B. Article 31bis, which permits such use exclusively where the importing member has first declared a national emergency
- C. Article 73, which allows members to set aside all patent obligations entirely for the duration of any public health crisis
- D. Article 31, which permits such use subject to authorisation on its individual merits and adequate remuneration to the right holder