The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a showcause notice to the health ministry and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) over the deaths of 49 infants during clinical trials, even as the nationally renowned institution defended the experiments.

“This is a showcause notice. We have sought comments from the secretary of the health ministry and the AIIMS director on a complaint filed with the NHRC within four weeks,” a commission official said.Rahul Verma of the NGO ‘Uday Foundation’ had submitted a petition to the NHRC, alleging violation of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

In a statement, the institute said the drugs used in the tests were safe and the children were not selected from a particular socio-economic group. It added that none of the 49 deaths were due to the treatment modalities under trial. The drugs studied had been found safe in earlier studies, and were not known to have fatal complications. In fact, the deaths were due to high risk and serious disease conditions which the children suffered from.