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Howrah Ganatantrik Nagarik Samity and Ors.Vs. State of West Bengal and Ors.

Country/Territory
India
Type of court
National - higher court
Date
May 6, 2005
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
High Court of Calcutta
Seat of court
Calcutta
Judge
Sirpurkar, V.S.
Asok Kumar Ganguly.
Reference number
2005 (2) CHN 596
Language
English
Subject
Water, Food & nutrition
Keyword
Emission standards Traceability/product tracing Groundwater Groundwater recharge Water quality standards Environmental standards Freshwater quality/freshwater pollution Standards Food quality control/food safety Noise standards Effluent waste standards Water abstraction
Abstract
In this case the petitioner wanted some steps to be taken for seeing that the soft drinks which are sold in the market are not polluted or contaminated. The petitioner also sought for regular testing of the bottle or can of soft drinks which are from time to time sold in the open market retail as well as otherwise. The petitioner also sought for a direction and thereby wanted a control on the quality of the soft drinks which were sold in the market. The Court on the basis of the presentations of the State Authorities and the soft drink companies came to the conclusion that the matter was being taken very seriously by them and that they were undertaking adequate steps to ensure the safety of the soft drinks. It asked for timely inspection to be taken by the concerned authorities of the State Government and a rigid control be kept on the quality of the soft drinks which are allowed to be sold in the market to the public. A subsidiary issue that was raised was with regard to the depletion and contamination of groundwater that was being caused to the excessive withdrawal by the bottling plants of these soft drinks. The court decided not to rule on the issue on the ground that the same would come within the purview of the authority being setup under the State Groundwater Bill. The Court also stressed on the importance of ensuring adequate rainwater harvesting measures.
Full text
COU-156027.pdf
Website
www.indiankanoon.org