The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would take up on December 3 a plea raising serious concerns about the supply and quality of anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy drugs provided to HIV patients across the country.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted that 16 states have still not filed their responses to an affidavit submitted by the petitioners in September 2023. “It would be open for these 16 states to file their response, if they so desire, in the meantime,” the bench observed.

The court was hearing a petition filed in 2022 by the NGO Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS and others, seeking directions to ensure the uninterrupted supply and quality assurance of ARV medicines used in the treatment of HIV-positive individuals.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing f

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