Ahead of SC hearing on GM mustard, activists point to Centre's violations

A coalition of activists urged the Supreme Court to impose a permanent ban on the genetically modified (GM) mustard and pointed to a conflict of interest, obfuscation of facts, unscientific statements and "outright lies" in the Union government's submission in defence of the GM crop.

The apex court, which stayed the Centre's move allowing cultivation of GM mustard, is set to take up the case on Tuesday. The Coalition for GM-free India on Sunday said the Centre has been misleading the court on a matter that concerns the food security of the country and livelihood of the farmers.

In a statement, the Coalition noted that the Supreme Court-appointed five-member technical expert committee, including two nominated by the Centre, had recommended a complete ban on herbicide tolerant (HT) crops in India.

"The unscientific statements and outright lies of the Government of India in the Supreme Court are spurred by the fact that GM mustard is indeed a HT crop, and that is the reason why the approval letter issued by the Government of India on October 25, 2022, seeks to criminalise farmers for using glufosinate while growing GM mustard hybrid crop. This very condition, which is legally untenable, is the loudest give-away that GM mustard under consideration is an herbicide tolerant crop," it said, adding that the Insecticides Act exempts farmers from the regulatory statute (Section 38).

The statement said the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee violated the Supreme Court order directing all biosafety data to be published on its website as well as the chief information commissioner's orders. "In fact, in both cases, the regulator gave an undertaking that it will publish the said data, but this has been kept hidden to this day," it added.

Activists also pointed to the undermining of the state governments' rights by bypassing the consultation unlike the widespread consultative process carried out before deciding on the matter of GM brinjal.

"The current government claimed that there is no need to take any consent from any state government, while it secretly planted GM mustard in 8 locations in Rabi 2022...While brinjal is grown on about 6-8 lakh hectares in the country, rapeseed-mustard is grown on about 100 lakh hectares," it said.

The coalition urged the court to ensure that all gene-edited organisms and products thereof are strictly regulated and reverse the government's decision to de-regulate certain kinds of gene editing.

"Moreover, state governments should not be bypassed under any circumstance when it comes to open-air releases of GMOs, including gene-edited organisms and the policy positions of states should be protected. In fact, a strict liability regime should be put into place, which is long-pending in India, for all violations and ramifications from gene technologies in our food and farming systems," it added.