Supreme Court refuses to ban open field trials of GM crops, next hearing on November 9

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to ban open field trials on genetically modified crops despite a court-appointed expert panel recommending a 10-year halt on them.

Hearing a public interest litigation filed by anti-GM food activist Aruna Rodrigues, a two-judge bench of the apex court instead invited views of all the stakeholders on the expert panel's report.

Rodrigues had sought the court's intervention to stop the field trials until a new set of regulatory conditions is enforced, as suggested by the expert panel.

Her lawyer Prashant Bhushan argued that a ban was necessary as open field trials in the current form could lead to contamination of indigenous species and loss of bio-diversity. He cited the example of basmati to claim that even the slightest of contamination would cause the country to loose the Rs 14,000-crore European market.

Lawyers representing the Union government and the biotech industry, however, countered these claims.

Monsanto, whose Indian arm Mahyco Monsanto is the biggest Genetically Modified seed producer in the country, and the Association of Biotech-led Industries had filed applications in the court seeking to be heard.