Dabur Nepal petition hearing put off by Supreme Court

Nepal's Supreme court today put off till next week hearing on a petition seeking cancellation of license to Indian joint venture Dabur Nepal for allegedly producing sub standard products.

Supreme Court judge Bharat Upreti was scheduled to hear a petition today asking for cancellation of the manufacturing licence given to the Indian joint venture after it was embroiled in a fresh controversy over allegations of adulteration of its popular fruit juice brand.

The company has denied the allegation.

The petition was filed by Bhushan Giri, a local of the Indi-bordering Birgunj town where the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) raided the godown of Dabur Nepal last Monday.

The agency allegedly seized 74,000 cartons of its Real brand of fruit juice for allegedly manipulating manufacturing dates.

The hearing could not take place due to lack of time today as the case was on the tenth priority. The next hearing is likely to take place next Monday, sources at Dabur Nepal said.

The CIAA sealed the cartons worth 80 million rupees and started an investigation in the matter.

Giri's writ demands cancellation of Dabur's manufacturing licence on the grounds that it was producing sub standard products in the country.

It said the prime minister, commerce minister, industries and supplies minister and the CIAA should have acted promptly following the raid during which it was revealed that 74,000 cartons of Real juice carried manufacturing date of January 2011 though they were produced two months back.

The petition also mentions reported cases of people falling ill after drinking the fruit juice in Banepa Municipality.

It was reported last week that five people were taken ill after allegedly consuming Real juice in Banepa and they were being treated in a hospital.

The hospital doctors are however yet to produce the final report of the incident.

The incidents have been reported after months of campaign by a section of the media against Dabur Nepal.

The media reports claimed that Real juice cartons contained bacteria and other inedible substances. The company had strongly denied the allegations.

Some reports said vested interest groups in Bara district, where the factory is located, were targeting the Indian joint venture.

When the media campaign was at its peak four months back, the vehicle of the local manager of Dabur Nepal was attacked by some unidentified group in the district.