Committed to safe use of GM crops with robust evaluation system: Govt to SC

The apex court is hearing public interest litigations (PILs) challenging the environment ministry's decision to approve the commercial cultivation of GM mustard

The government told the Supreme Court on Wednesdaythat it was committed to the safe use of genetically-modified (GM) crops and “accordingly robust evaluation systems are in place”. Bt cotton was approved in 2002 after an elaborate safety-assessment exercise spanning over seven years, the Centre said.

The court is hearing public interest litigations challenging the environment ministry’s decision to approve the commercial cultivation of GM mustard.
 

This is the first time that a GM food crop is set to be commercially cultivated. On the third day of hearing, the Centre told the apex court that India has a robust regulatory framework in place for the regulation of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) and products thereof.

“The approval to Bt cotton and Bt brinjal by Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM) and Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has been accorded on the basis of an elaborate set of guidelines and procedures.

These guidelines are based on state-of-the-art international guidance developed after years of consultations by agencies like FAO, WHO, OECD and Codex Alimentarius,” the government said in its filing.

The court, on January 11, had expressed displeasure at the GEAC for not considering recommendations of the court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) before taking its decision in October 2022 to release the GM mustard variety into the environment. The TEC had made certain recommendations, with one member dissenting.
 

 The Centre, represented by Attorney General for India R Venkataramani, had told the court that the GEAC had not considered the committee's report as there was no legal requirement for it to consider such reports.

It should be noted that the release of the GM Mustard was put on hold after the Court asked the Centre to maintain status quo in November 2022.
 

The Centre also said that the regulatory mechanisms have not faltered and acted in a most transparent manner. 

“In fact, all the data, reports and decisions, have been made available on the website for information of the public,” it said. The GEAC functions under the ministry of environment, forests and climate change.

During the hearing, the Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol said one can have different schools of thought and judges cannot enter into a debate with scientists. “We have to consider what is good for India,” Justice Nagarathna said.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of the petitioners, said their concern is the irreversible risk of contamination that the country faces if environmental release of GMOs is permitted. This is in light of the fact that the safety of GMOs has not been established for the health of humans, livestock, environment, biodiversity and unintended consequences.

“Further, the TEC has pointed out the adverse consequences that arise due to use of GMOs and studies demonstrating the risk to human health, environment, & biodiversity. The Union of India is silent as to the measures it will put in place to ensure that there is no contamination of the fields of farmers,” he told the court.