The Supreme Court (SC) asked the Centre on Friday to submit an interim report on the ill effects of the commonly used pesticide endosulfan within three weeks.
SC had banned manufacturing and sale of the pesticide in an interim order on May 13.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia refused to allow a six-week period sought by the Centre and made it clear to additional solicitor general Mohan Prasaran that it was too long. The government had already got two months to submit the report, the bench said.
While asking the government to submit its report within three weeks, the court further said it should clearly specify its stand on the export of the stock of the pesticide lying with the manufactures and ensure that it would not be re-routed to India.
The manufactures should also give a guarantee that the exported stock “does not come back to the country through their business channels”, CJI made it plain to senior advocates Harish Salve and Rohinton Nariman, who appeared for some pesticide firms.
The top court in its order of May 13 had imposed an eight-week ban on the manufacture, sale and use of endosulfan after a PIL filed by Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) cited several study reports on its toxic effects on human, animals and environment as a whole.