HC for check on use of pesticides
Rampant use of banned pesticides in fruits and vegetables, which continues to put at risk the life of the common man, forced the Delhi high court to take suo motu cognisance over the matter after going through a media report.
A division bench comprising Delhi high court Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan on Tuesday asked the Centre and state government officials to hold, if necessary, a joint meeting o the issue and file affidavits by December 1.
While converting the matter into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the division bench observed, “It is difficult to perceive how the community would react to such a situation when it is asserted that there has been an authentic research which shows that the vegetables and fruits have become highly toxic because of the process of growing and preservation.”
The court has asked the concerned ministries of the Centre and state governments to hold joint meetings, if necessary, so that the health hazard which has become quite epidemic can be curbed at the very root.
It said “If we allow ourselves to say so, the said article is likely to convert a normal being to a hypochondriac. It is said hypochondria can eventually lead to neurotic disorders and obsessed melancholia.”
The court has also appointed senior counsels V.K. Rao and Saket Sikri as amicus curiae to assist the court in the PIL. The court directed the government to issue a notice to NGO, Consumer Voice, which has conducted the study to also assist the bench.
Earlier this month, the NGO had conducted tests on fruits sold in Indian markets which showed that 12 fruits, including banana, apple and grapes, had high quantity of pesticides, violating both Indian and European Union standards. The chemical contents found in fruits were endosuplhan, captan, thiacloprid, parathion and DDT residues.
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‘Magistrate can’t review own order’
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI
Nov. 2: A metropolitan magistrate cannot review his/ her own order, as the Rohini Court additional sessions judge Santosh Snehi Mann has said that it is a settled legal position that a magistrate cannot review his own order.
Taking serious note of grant and subsequent cancellation of bail to an accused, Rahul Kumar, by the same MM, the ASJ said, “Judicial officers, including magistrates, cannot review their own orders.”
The court passed the order after hearing the petition of Kumar, who alleged that his hopes of coming out of prison were dashed within two hours of the grant of bail as the same magistrate changed his order after he failed to comply with the procedural formalities.
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