Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Aug 14, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Aug 14, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Courts/Legal Issues Marketing - Standards & Benchmarks SC turns down Coke's plea Our Bureau
New Delhi , Aug. 13 THE controversy over pesticide-residue in soft-drinks looks far from abating, with the Supreme Court on Wednesday refusing to entertain the petition of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd (HCCBPL) saying that there were no grounds for the Court to hear the issue. Subsequently, HCCBPL withdrew its petition seeking testing of its product by experts. Before dismissing the petition as withdrawn, the Bench refused to be drawn into repeated plea of the petitioner's counsel, Mr Kapil Sibal, to convert the petition into a public interest litigation (PIL) to protect the rights of the consumer, according to agency reports. Late last week, Pepsi had approached the Delhi High Court demanding independent evaluation of the Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) report that had indicted 12 brands of soft drinks. Industry-watchers said that Coca Cola's plea was to bring the testing under a single umbrella, though the apex court did not entertain the view, since the Delhi High Court was already seized of the matter and even the Government had already initiated action, in terms of getting the soft drink samples tested. A statement from HCCBPL, said the company had approached the apex court to "quickly address the current consumer confusion on this issue. The Supreme Court did not want to interfere at this early stage but said we could return later if necessary". Given that their products were running into rough weather in markets such as Maharashtra, HCCBPL added, "Consumers need to know that the products they are buying in one part of India are manufactured under the same quality and safety standards that apply in all other parts of the country. Companies such as Coca-Cola need to know that the Government standards to which they are committed to honouring are being measured in a consistent and professional manner."
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