Firm must pay Rs 50 lakh for questioning bona fides of Indian scientists: Bombay High Court

Firm must pay Rs 50 lakh for questioning bona fides of Indian scientists: Bombay High Court

The HC has imposed the hefty fine as the private firm misled the court and other government bodies in order to promote its own soil testing unit and establish a monopoly.

Narsi BenwalUpdated: Tuesday, January 07, 2020, 07:33 AM IST
article-image

Mumbai: Observing that there are many farmers in India who are not aware how to enhance soil conditions, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has ordered a private firm to pay Rs 50 lakh for questioning the bona fides of Indian scientists who are experts in the field of soil testing.

The HC has imposed the hefty fine as the private firm misled the court and other government bodies in order to promote its own soil testing unit and establish a monopoly.

The bench of Justices Ravi Deshpande and Milind Jadhav ordered this amount to be divided equally between the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) and the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI).

The bench was dealing with a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a chemical manufacturing firm in Hyderabad, which had developed a mini-lab – Mridaparikshak - to help farmers test the soil from their fields in their own homes.

The firm claimed that its own machines were sufficient but the one developed by ICAR and IARI scientists was not up-to the mark.

The firm further argued that the ICAR and IARI were fooling farmers and promoting their machines, which were being provided at subsidised rates, with 60:40 (expenditure share) of the Union and state governments.

Having considered the submissions, the bench noted the fact that farmers did not have sufficient knowledge about the condition of their soil.

“There are many farmers in India who do not know which types of crops they should grow to get maximum yield. Basically, they do not know the quality and the type of their soil.

They might know by experience what crops grow and what crops fail. But they do not know what they can do to improve the soil conditions,” the bench observed.

The bench further noted that the machines developed by the ICAR and IARI scientists was under the soil health management scheme, to help farmers with details about the soil on their farms.

The judges, after perusing the material placed on record, said that the private firm had filed the PIL with 'ulterior motives', seeking commercial gains by eliminating the competition and creating monopoly. It further said that the litigation was unnecessarily dragged on, to take up the valuable time of the court.

“In our view, the court has to be intolerant to such a situation and the practice of filing such frivolous and vexatious litigation without any genuine interest and lacking in bona fides.

It needs to be curbed and treated with an iron hand, so as to deter litigants from taking the court for a ride by misusing the process,” the bench remarked.

“The ICAR and IARI are the establishments of our country, consisting of renowned scientists having expertise in this field and their bona fides are not questionable,” the judgment authored by Justice Deshpande, reads.

The judges accordingly ordered the ICAR and IARI to blacklist the private firm, after they paid the Rs 50 lakh fine.

RECENT STORIES

Navi Mumbai: Waiter Stabbed To Death In Vashi While Trying To Save Himself During Bag Theft By...

Navi Mumbai: Waiter Stabbed To Death In Vashi While Trying To Save Himself During Bag Theft By...

Mumbai News: Trust Files Petition In Bombay HC Challenging Cancellation Of Wilson College Gymkhana...

Mumbai News: Trust Files Petition In Bombay HC Challenging Cancellation Of Wilson College Gymkhana...

Mumbai: MSCPCR Objects To Maharashtra Govt's 'Selfie' Directive For Students; Writes Letter To CM...

Mumbai: MSCPCR Objects To Maharashtra Govt's 'Selfie' Directive For Students; Writes Letter To CM...

Mumbai: Scorching Heat Leads To 13 New Stroke Cases; Reveals Public Health Dept

Mumbai: Scorching Heat Leads To 13 New Stroke Cases; Reveals Public Health Dept

Mumbai: Central Railway's Mumbai-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani And Mumbai-Nagpur Duronto Express Trains...

Mumbai: Central Railway's Mumbai-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani And Mumbai-Nagpur Duronto Express Trains...