The alleged illegal clinical trials of untested drugs by pharmaceutical firms in the country, has come under the judicial scrutiny with the Supreme Court seeking the Centre's stand on a plea for an independent probe into it.

A bench of justices R.M. Lodha and H.L. Gokhale issued notices to the Centre, the Union Health ministry and the Medical Council of India seeking their replies on a Public Interest Litigation alleging that the country is being used for illegal clinical trials by multinational pharmaceutical firms because laxities in implementing laws here.