The Supreme Court on Friday issued a showcause notice to Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to explain as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for approving field trials of new genetically modified (GM) crops.
The apex court gave four weeks time to GEAC to respond. On September 13, petitioners Aruna Rodrigues and PV Satheesh had filed a petition against three members of GEAC-chairman BS Parsheera, co-chairman, CD Mayee and member-secretary Ranjini Warrier for deliberately disobeying the explicit orders of the Supreme Court passed on September 22, 2006, May 8, 2007 and August 1, 2007. The petitioners urged that the fresh approval of field trial of GM crops by GEAC amounted to the contempt of court.
The three-member bench consisting of Chief Justice KG Balakrishanan, justice CV Ravindran and justice Sirpurkar, however, exempted the three GEAC members from making personnel appearances in the court.
?We have agrued that the fresh approval of field trials of GM crops does not amount to the contempt of court. The order passed on September 22, 2006 was subsequently modified and the GEAC?s approvals are not violative of the court?s orders,? said the advocate for the government, Amrinder Sharan Prashant Bhushan.
The advocate for the petitioners, however, seeking a moratorium on GM crops maintained that GEAC?s action was a clear violation of court?s orders.