2005 Supreme(Raj) 1416
Rajasthan High Court, Jaipur Bench
Honble SHIV KUMAR SHARMA, J. Honble K.S. RATHORE, J.
Manju Surana (Mrs.) - Appellant
Versus
State of Rajasthan & Others - Respondents
D.B. Misc. Application No. 62 of 2005
Decided On : June 01, 2005
Bajrang Lal Sharma, Sr. Advocate with Manish Sharma, S.R. Bajwa, Sr. Advocate with Lokesh Atrey, Paras Kuhad with Amit Sibbal, for Applicants Kamlakar Sharma & Mrs. Swati Bhati, for Union of India Niraj Sharma, for non- Applicants
Headnote:Clarification applications – Earlier sought ban on sale and use of Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola – Allegation that it is contaminated, laced with pesticides and contain suspended impurities which are dangerous to human life –Court directed to disclose the composition and contents of the products including presence of any of the pesticides and chemicals – Filed S.L.P. against it – Supreme Court granted liberty to seek clarification of exactly what kind of disclosure the High Court require them to make – Held – Applicants are required to declare in public interest on soft drink bottles, package or container ``Soft drink does not contain pesticide residues or ``Soft drink is safe – The level of pesticide residue is well within all applicable standard.
(2). Intervener M/s. Sunrise Beverages Pvt. Ltd. also filed an application seeking directions and clarification to address the issue as to what kind of disclosure would be best further to the public interest in informed choice.
(3). The applicants placed their submissions encompassing the following broad heads:-
(i) Genesis of the issue following the report of the Center for science and Environment dated August 5, 2003, constituted of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, steps taken by the Ministry of Health, Union of India pursuant to the report of the JPC.
(ii) On the science and safety.
(iii) Material developments post the judgment dated October 8, 2004 and `Right to information in the context of the judgment.
(iv) Implication of the order on the obligation of the Government of India qua World Trade Organisation under the Agreement for Technical Barriers to Trade.
(v) Current regulatory requirements for declaration on carbonated beverages.
(vi) The barriers in implementation of the direction in the judgment dated October 8, 2004, and
(vii) Why and what type of clarification is required?
(4). As already noticed the Honble Apex Court granted liberty to the applicants to seek clarification of exactly what kind of disclosure this court requires the applicants to make, therefore, to this limited extent we propose to deal with the submissions of the learned counsel for the applicants.
(5). Before proceeding further we deem it appropriate to incorporate following observations made in the High Courts judgment dated October 8, 2004:-
``... If a Carbonated beverage or soft drink is not free from pesticides and chemicals, the commoner must be told told that it contains pesticides or chemicals and the extent of their presence must be specified on the product. The sale of the product should not be allowed without disclosing the composition of the product and the presence, if any, of insecticide, pesticide and chemicals...
(6). Learned counsel for the applicants canvassed before us that it is currently impossible to have any accurate way of measuring the pesticide residue level in finished soft drinks because the amount in question are so small that modern science can barely detect these miniscule residue levels. It is actually seeking to find one centimeter in 10,000 kms. The level of pesticide residue in soft drinks is well within all PFA, EU, WHO and USFDA applicable standards.
(7). It is next contended that presence of pesticide residues is not a manufacture related issue. Occurrence of residues can be best controlled by Good Agricultural Practices. There are no validated analytical protocol anywhere in the world to analyze Complex matrix viz. Carbonated soft drinks. There is a need to first carry out a nation wide study to examine the presence of pesticide residue in food chain and the extent thereof.
(8). In the course of arguments we were taken through various research works related to pesticides res