Kerala High Court lifts cola ban in state, Govt. to appeal

The bans were imposed after a New Delhi-based private research group alleged the soft drinks had high levels of pesticides in them.

However, the state government was not pleased with the order and both chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan and law minister M. Vijayakumar said they would appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court.

"The lifting of the ban by the division Bench of the high court is unfortunate and the government is exploring legal steps to take corrective measures to re-enforce the ban. We will seek opinion from the state advocate general and other legal experts," said Achuthanandan.

Terming the High Court verdict as "mysterious," Vijayakumar said the state government had banned the soft drinks under rule 7(1) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.

Talking to reporters here, Vijayakumar said the government took the decision as per law and there was no "failure" on its part in arguing the case effectively in the High Court.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo had, in separate petitions on August 18, challenged the order banning their aerated drinks on the ground that state government's action was unconstitutional.

After hearing the arguments of all concerned, the Bench consisting of Chief Justice V.K. Bali and Justice M. Ramachandran said the state had no right to ban the products. "This decision can be taken only by the Central government and the state government has no right. The orders of the state government banning the products were harsh, unreasonable and taken hurriedly," said the Bench.

The Kerala government had on August 9 banned the manufacture and sale of Pepsi and Coke in the state after tests by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment showed high quantities of pesticides in 12 branded samples.

In their petitions, the cola giants pointed out that their products were safe and no scientific studies had shown any harmful contents. Both Pepsi and Coke have bottling plants in Palakkad district, Kerala.

According to news reports, reacting to the high court's decision, Democratic Youth Federation of India activists destroyed Coca-Cola products at one of the company's godowns at Mettukkada on September 23.

Police said the activists barged into the godown and threw out some old stocks of the products.

No arrests have been made, they said, adding that the group was protesting against the Kerala High Court order quashing the state government's decision to ban Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Meanwhile, soft drinks majors Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have hailed the verdict.

"Coca-Cola India has always been confident of the safety of its soft drinks because they are produced at the same level of purity, regarding pesticides, as the EU criteria for bottled water," a company statement said.

"The court order quashing the ban on Pepsi in Kerala clearly validates our steadfast confidence in the quality and safety of our products. PepsiCo follows one quality standard across the globe," said a PepsiCo official.

The two cola giants hoped other state governments would also reconsider similar orders and advisories issued by them given the law as interpreted by the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court in a similar case earlier.