Pepsi licence: Govt to appeal against HC order

Kozhikode: The LDF Government in Kerala will appeal against today's High Court verdict quashing Puthussery panchayat's order, which had cancelled the licence of soft drinks major Pepsi's plant at Kanjikode in Palakkad district, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said.

"The Court order has not honoured the Panchayati Raj and we will appeal against it after consulting legal experts", he told reporters here.

Stating that the panchayat's primary job was to ensure drinking water to the people, he said it could not be expected to make arrangements for industries like Pepsi to do business to the tune of crores of rupees by exploiting ground water in the area.

Rather than understanding this, it was unfortunate that the Court had found merit in the argument of counsels engaged by the company, the Chief Minister said.