The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Government justifies ban on soft drinks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 01, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Government justifies ban on soft drinks

Staff Reporter

HIGH COURTROUND-UP

BANGALORE: The State Government told the Karnataka High Court on Thursday that it had taken the decision to ban aerated beverages after the media carried reports on the presence of pesticides in excess of permissible limits in the beverages.

Tests

Making this submission on behalf of the State, Advocate-General Uday Holla said after the media carried reports, the public was agitated and the State was concerned about the health of the people. Karnataka, he said, was among those States that carried out tests of the beverages.

Justifying its action, he said the State was empowered to protect the health of the people.

The Government had, therefore, taken the decision to ban for some time the sale and distribution of aerated beverages in notified places such as schools, hospitals and State government offices.

He said unlike Kerala, the State had not totally banned the sale and distribution of beverages.

The ban was only until further orders and this would depend on the time taken by the scientists at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) to analyse the beverages samples sent to them and report back to the State.

The Advocate-General was opposing a petition by PepsiCo, the manufacturers of aerated beverages and bottled water seeking to quash a notification by the State banning the sale and distribution of beverages in certain notified areas.

PepsiCo maintained that while the notification prohibiting the sale of aerated beverages was on August 14, the report by a private firm to which the Government sent the samples for testing was received only on August 17.

Moreover, the State had no power to impose such a ban.

In its statement of objections, the State said it had banned the sale and distribution of the products after considering the study conducted by the chief chemist and public analyst of the Public Health Department, Government of Karnataka.

It said nine samples were analysed and of them, four were found to contain different pesticides much above the permissible limits.

It said if consumed, organo-chlorine compounds like lindine and heptachlor accumulate in the body.

Heavy concentrates of such pesticides may lead to irritation, stimulation of the nervous system, headache, loss of appetite, vomiting and giddiness.

Justice D.V. Shylendra Kumar asked the State to file additional statement of objections and adjourned further hearing on the case to Friday.

Punished

A Division Bench comprising Justice S.R. Bannurmath and Justice Subhash B. Adi on Thursday fined a professor Rs. 2,000 for making derogatory statements against the judiciary.

The Bench found the professor guilty and fined him and in default to undergo one month's simple imprisonment.

He was directed to make the payment within two weeks from Thursday.

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