The apex court sought the reason for appointing several committees when the initial panel had already recommended the banning of 27 pesticides
The Supreme Court criticised the Union government on July 25 for appointing multiple expert committees to reassess the expert committee recommendations on banning hazardous pesticides in agriculture.
The bench comprising chief justice of India DY Chandrachud and judges JB Pardiwala and Manoh Misra was responding to a plea seeking a ban on pesticides. Though various committees recommended banning 27 pesticides, only three have been banned from the list, advocate Prashant Bhushan told the court while speaking for the petitioner.
The apex court sought the reason for appointing several committees when the initial expert panel had already recommended the banning of 27 pesticides. “It seems that every time you have an adverse report from one committee you form a new committee. You keep appointing committees till you get a favourable decision,” said Chandrachud.
Also read: SC directs Centre to submit status report on ban of pesticides
“Once Khurana recommended the ban of 27, why make another? What was the basis of the Khurana committee recommending a ban on 27? And then why did the Rajendran committee say 3? Show us what led the Rajendran committee to take a different view than Khurana committee?” he asked, according to the news website Live Law.
The bench also raised questions over the 2015 Anupam Varma Committee report, which recommended banning 13 pesticides out of the list of 66 sought to be reviewed by the petitioners. The report saw resistance from the pesticide industry association.
Following this, the Centre constituted SK Malhotra Committee in 2017, seeking a review on banning 27 pesticides. The committee reinstated the need to ban 27 pesticides in 2018.
However, another sub-committee headed by SK Khurana was later appointed by the Pesticide Registration Committee, an apex body that regulates pesticides in India, to review the banning of 27 pesticides. This committee, too, recommended banning certain pesticides in 2020.
Anupam Varma Committee and Khurana Committee had proposed banning of same 27 pesticides. Despite this, another committee was formed (Rajendran Committee), which offered contrary recommendations, Bhushan told the court.
Bhushan questioned the need for the government to repeatedly form additional committees when two central government committees had already suggested the banning of 27 pesticides. As additional solicitor general Vikramjeet Banerjee requested time to respond to the court’s queries, SC will hear the matter again on August 1.
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