Sarthak Umang
Published on: 11 November 2022 at 21:12 IST
India has granted environmental clearance for indigenously developed genetically modified (GM) mustard seeds, paving the way for the commercial use of its first GM food crop.
The Supreme Court is competent to inquire into the grant of environmental clearance for indigenously developed genetically modified mustard seeds. This affidavit was submitted by the Center in response to a petition filed by activist Aruna Rodrigues and others against the endorsement of genetically modified mustard cultivation by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee in October, which was then approved by the Ministry as well.
This is the first time a transgenic food crop has received approval for commercial cultivation in India.
Rejecting the contentions of the petitioners, the Center has told the court, “The conditional approval for environmental release of transgenic mustard hybrid and parental lines has been made after following the detailed procedure in law elaborated above and after considering the biosafety data accumulated over numerous years.”
In the affidavit, the Ministry has outlined the requisite regulatory and technical framework and rules that, it has claimed, enable “a consistent and rigorous risk analysis approach” to evaluating applications for the environmental release of GE plants. The Ministry has additionally submitted that the conditional approval has been made in compliance with the said framework and guidelines and after “a long and exhaustive review process which commenced in 2010.”
The Division Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sudhanshu Dhulia, orally asked the Central Government to maintain the status quo on the commercial cultivation of genetically modified mustard and that, with regard to its release, no precipitate action should be taken.
The matter was planned to be heard on Thursday, November 10, but got adjourned because the affidavit filed by the Union Ministry had not reached the bench yet.