The bench consisting of Justice BP Saraf and Justice AY Sakhare has given six weeks to the CIB to take a decision on the matter. Meanwhile, HLL has also been directed by the court to obtain its registration as required by the Act.

The company had approached the court recently seeking relief after the order passed in June 1998 by the office of commissionerate of agriculture, Maharashtra restricted the company from selling its product in the state. HLL is understood to have sales of around Rs 2 crore of Paras Photosynth.

The genesis of the order goes back to the ministry of agriculture's stand that since triacontanol is put under the schedules of the Insecticide Act, every product containing the chemical should obtain a registration fromthe Registration Committee of the ministry.

At Monday's hearing, the counsel for HLL submitted to the court that triacontanol's content in its product (Paras Photsynth) is only 0.07 per cent and that its product is not toxic and falls within the exception in section 38(1(b).

The company has been maintaining that there are several products in the market which contain small portion of chemicals listed in the schedules to the Insecticides Act but are still sold without being registered. This is because they are not intended for the purpose of preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigationg any insects, rodents, as specified in the Act.

Counsel for the government, Beni Chatterjee, brought to the notice of the court that other companies who are members of the Plant Growth Regulators Associations have also obtained the registration. HLL, however, has stepped out of the association.

Chatterjee submitted that the records of the Regional Agro-Pesticide Index of the Agriculture Requisities Scheme for Asia andPacific (ARSAP) and International Co-operation Centre of Agriculture Research for Development (CIRAD) show that Unilever, Indonesia has got itself registered. Unilever is the parent company of HLL.

HLL's counsel opposed registration of the product under the insecticide category stating that it has been manufacturing the product for the last 12 years after procuring due permission from the government.

As per the affidavit of Ashok Krishna Purkar, assistant director, Entomology, Plant Quarantine and Fumigation Station, under Food Administration Organisation FAO-(UN), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and FIFRA (US Pesticide Law) pesticide includes plant growth regulators.

The affidavit also submits that Japan pesticide law and US Pesticide Law require compulsory registration of plant regualators/plant accelerators.

"The synthetic production of triacontanol involves handling of hazardous and carcinogenic chemicals. No data on synthetically produced chemical is available. Once exempted, it would bevery difficult to monitor and regulate the manufacturers of its synthetic form"..it adds

Purkar who has stated that the scientific definition of PGR's include herbicides, has also submitted that JP Chemicals and 20 other manufacturring concerns have already applied for registration.

HLL started manufacturing the product in the early 80s. Over the years when more players entered the market, the government thought it fit to regulate production and marketing of the plant growth regulators.

After due deliberations on the issue, triacontanol was included in the schedule of the Insecticides Act, 1968, hence its manufacture, import, sale, transport, distribution and use are now to be governed by the provisions of the Act.