WHIP UP THE FiZZ: MNCs Delaying Compliance Of Court Orders Karan Singh Bhati Advocate, Supreme Court THE STATESMAN, September 19, 2006 ------------------------------------------
The recent CSE reports regarding soft drinks manufactured by multinational companies, such as Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd and Pepsi Co India Holdings Pvt Ltd have become a subject of media hype. The finding that there are excessive pesticides in the soft drinks produced by them is a matter of concern. The media seems to be completely unaware of legal developments on this issue, which reveal that the multinational companies have little regard for orders passed by the High Courts and even the Supreme Court. The MNCs have made full use of their money power to defeat or at least to delay the compliance of court orders. In 2003 a PIL CW No 3105/2003 titled Santosh Mittal v/s State of Rajasthan and others was filed by Dr Swati Bhati at the Jaipur Bench of the High Court of Rajasthan regarding various adulterants found in soft drink bottles. This PIL was filed on behalf of Youth Welfare Society, Jaipur, through Ms Santosh Mittal, a social worker. Subsequently, a few more writ petitions were filed on the same subject. Landmark judgment After the first round of CSE analysis reports on the existence of pesticides in the soft drinks was made public, the scope of these issues was widened by the High Court. On 8 October 2004 a Division Bench of the High Court (coram: Anil Dev Singh, CJ, and KS Rathore, J) delivered a landmark judgment. All arguments made on behalf of the soft drinks companies, including the arguments based on the JPC report and the opinion of experts, were considered by the court. The Bench declined to decide on the quantum of pesticides or the permissible limit in view of the lack of relevant and reliable data and even some conflicting reports sent by the laboratories. It decided to leave the issue for the experts to decide. However, the court pronounced its judgment on the basis of the consumer's right to know what exactly was being sold to them in the form of soft drinks. It directed the soft drink companies to specify on the bottle or package containing the soft drinks or on a label or a wrapper the details of its composition and nature and quantity of pesticides and chemicals, if any. The court rejected the argument that pesticides exist in the groundwater that is consumed, whereas soft drinks are part of trade and commerce. Subsequently, the review petition filed by the cola companies was dismissed on 3 November 2004. The court gave one month's time to all soft drinks companies, including multinational and national, to implement the order within a period of one month. The cola companies filed special leave petitions before the Supreme Court against the judgments dated 8 October 2004 and 3 November 2004 in a PIL and review petition respectively. After hearing the arguments of both sides, the Supreme Court dismissed all special leave petitions on 6 December 2004; but on a statement made by the counsel of cola companies, gave limited liberty to them to approach the High Court to seek clarification of exactly what kind of disclosure the High Court requires them to make. Once again, the cola companies filed applications before the High Court. Instead of pursuing the matter seriously, the companies tried to buy as much time as possible to protect their business interests with no regard to court orders which had become final. In the applications before the High Court, instead of seeking clarification on the disclosure directed in the order dated 8 October 2004, issues that had been argued and decided with regard to the merit of the case were once again raised. Another Division Bench of the High Court heard these applications and went on to record various submissions, but declined to consider them in view of the limited liberty granted by the Supreme Court. These applications were disposed of on 1 June 2005 with clarifications. The operative part of the judgment is reproduced below: "Since we have only to clarify as to what kind of disclosure is required, it is not necessary for us to travel through the voluminous literature placed for our perusal. In the public interest, we require the applicants to declare on soft drinks bottle, package or container either of these two declarations ~ the soft drink does not contain pesticide residue or the soft drink is safe. The level of pesticides residue is well within all applicable standards." The High Court gave two months' time to implement the directions. Against the order dated 1 June 2005, in the second round, special leave petitions were filed in August 2005. Since then, the matter came up for hearing on four or five occasions, but the Supreme Court has not issued notices. In the Supreme Court, the cola companies have raised another excuse. They submitted that since the Food Safety And Standards Bill 2005 has already been introduced in Parliament, it will take care of all issues involved. Orders ignored It further submitted that the Supreme Court should postpone the hearing on these matters till the Bill becomes an Act and is given effect to. From the perusal of the Bill, it is absolutely clear that it doesn't contain any provision regarding the consumer's right to know. This is the basis of the High Court judgment which has become final with the dismissal of the Special Leave Petitions by the Supreme Court on 6 December 2004. Clearly, the cola companies have no regard for the court orders and have been trying to find excuses to avoid their implementation. So much for their bonafides. As regards the CSE reports, the cola companies have intensified their efforts to show that their soft drinks are harmless and that they meet international standards. If that claim is genuine, there should be no difficulty in disclosing the level of pesticides found in their soft drinks. The courts have applied their mind and come to a conclusion that after a disclosure is made, the matter is better left to the judgment of the consumer himself. ----------------------------------------- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "stolengeneration" group. To post to this group, send email to stolengeneration@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/stolengeneration -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
