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Authored by - Isha (Intern at Legal Soch Foundation)
Meta Description - A division bench, led by Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, initially urged the government to maintain the status quo on GM mustard cultivation. The government's decision was based on fulfilling legal protocols, but opponents argued for precautionary measures due to potential environmental risks. After Judge Maheshwari's retirement, the case was transferred to another bench. The Central Government now seeks to discharge its commitment not to impede GM mustard's release due to changed circumstances.
Keyword - GM Crop, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, HT mustard DMH - 11
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
Under scrutiny is the Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change’s decision to allow the country’s first indigenously-developed GM crop, ‘HT mustard DMH- 11’, to be released across the country after being approved for commercial cultivation last October. The decision marks the first time in India that a GM food crop will be allowed to be commercially grown.
A division bench headed by Justice Dinesh Maheshwari on November 3 orally asked the Union government to “keep the status quo” on the cultivation of GM mustard and to “not take any precipitate measure with regard to its release”. In December last year, when asked to state what compelled the Centre to release the GM crop immediately rather than wait for a better understanding of its effects, the Centre claimed that “the entire protocol envisaged by the law being followed was fulfilled and there was no ‘credible reason’ for the decision to be made. The Attorney General said that releasing the GMO mustard into the environment was the next best thing.
At a later hearing, the Chief Law Officer presented the court with a file containing the minutes of the meetings of the relevant committees and subcommittees of the GM Appraisal Committee, as well as other relevant documents that demonstrate the stages at which the GM mustard was approved for the environmental release.
The court also took cognisance of the submissions made by the petitioners through their lawyer, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, and senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, who informed the court that the process of releasing the genetically modified mustard into the environment was already in progress and that the crop had already been planted on open fields in certain places. The counsel moved that the apex court put an immediate halt to this operation on the basis of the precautionary principle. This was opposed by the Attorney-General who argued that the release of the GM crop was the result of 10 years of deliberation and scientific research which could not be reversed on the basis of what he termed as an 'ideological' stand.
The matter was referred to another bench of the chief justice of India just before Maheshwari's retirement in May, leaving the hearing unfinished. Although the oral arguments are almost closed, it is likely that the council will have to repeat most of the arguments again.
AT PRESENT
The Centre had submitted an oral undertaking to the Supreme Court in November of last year in which it maintained the status quo regarding the release of GM mustard. The oral commitment was made before the then-judgment of the Supreme Court's Dinesh Maheshwari bench, which has now retired. The present application of the central government will be heard by the Supreme Court on September 26.
Last week, the Central Government moved an application seeking to discharge it from its undertaking not to take any precipitous steps to release GM mustard. The Centre claimed that the undertaking had been made at the Bar last year in view of the impending final hearing in the matter and the upcoming sowing season. However, due to Judge Maheshwari’s retirement, the batch had to be transferred to another bench, even though the oral arguments were near completion.
Now, the central government has moved an application to allow it to proceed with the subsequent steps regarding the environmental release of this transgenic crop. According to the Centre’s affidavit, mustard is not only a key edible oil crop and seed meal crop essential for ensuring food security in the country but also the upcoming September-October sowing season.
Following the retirement of Judge Dineshwari, a bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan is now hearing a series of petitions seeking a prohibition on the commercial cultivation of genetically modified indigenously developed mustard, known as ‘HT mustard DMH-11,’ which was approved by the environment ministry in October. It is the first transgenic food crop planned for commercial cultivation in India.
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