Premium

‘Will not compromise sovereignty of nation’: SC flags reciprocity concerns in Pfizer-Softgel case

Pfizer has filed an appeal against a Madras High Court order that turned down its prayer to enforce Letters Rogatory to obtain documents from Softgel Healthcare Pvt Ltd in an alleged patent violation case.

2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 31, 2026 03:36 AM IST

To give Indian girls wings to chase their dreams, it’s important to start with the wings of sanitary pads (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

Hearing a plea by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to enforce Letters Rogatory issued by a US court in India, the Supreme Court said on Thursday that it “will not compromise with the sovereignty of our nation” and sought to know how foreign courts and authorities would honour similar requests from India.

“When you want to have information, you want to hijack information from any part of the globe. When the question of getting information from you comes, then you show your superiority. That’s the issue,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, presiding over a two-judge bench, said.

Also Read | Pay Rs 2 crore or face jail: Delhi High Court to pharmaceutical company director for infringing Pfizer’s patent

The bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, was hearing the US pharmaceutical giant’s appeal against the Madras High Court order, turning down its prayer to enforce the Letters Rogatory to obtain documents and testimony from Chennai-based Softgel Healthcare Pvt Ltd in connection with a dispute over alleged patent violation.

Appearing for the multinational company, Senior Advocate Amit Sibal said that when it comes to Letters Rogatory, there is a principle of reciprocity and that courts abroad would also act when requests go from India.

The CJI, however, questioned the submission.

Agreeing to issue notice in the matter, the CJI said, “It’s not that we are issuing notice because we are convinced with you, we are issuing notice for a different purpose.” He added, “We will not compromise with the sovereignty of our nation. You should be very clear.”

As Sibal repeated the argument on reciprocity, the CJI said, “You are speaking of reciprocal only because of the Hague Convention. Question is, how are they honouring it?”

To this, Sibal said, “It must be honoured on both sides.” He said, “We will come with examples…in India also, we have followed it in light of that reciprocity.”

Story continues below this ad

The CJI remarked, “In India, we follow because we believe in the comity of courts. We believe in mutual respect, and we believe in respecting the other’s sovereignty also.”