New Delhi
The Supreme Court of India has highlighted the importance of maintaining environmental and ecological considerations while declining to issue urgent directives on the Centre’s application to release genetically modified (GM) mustard for seed production and testing. A bench comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan stressed that environmental preservation must take precedence, stating that the harm to the environment cannot be reversed, even if a delay of a year occurs. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, was told by the bench that environmental concerns are of utmost importance. Bhati requested that the government be released from the earlier undertaking of maintaining the status quo, made in November of the previous year, due to the upcoming sowing season. However, the bench questioned the necessity of discharging the undertaking, implying that the matter’s context could change if the undertaking is discharged. The Centre’s application sought to alter the status quo undertaking in relation to GM mustard. Bhati clarified that the application is not about commercial release, but for the final phase of research after 12 years. She emphasized the importance of not missing the current sowing season. Advocate Prashant Bhushan opposed the Centre’s application, arguing that environmental trials should not proceed until the complete regulatory system is established. He expressed concerns about the potential contamination of non-GM crops due to environmental release. The Supreme Court’s stance underscores the significance of ecological considerations when evaluating applications related to genetically modified organisms, particularly in the context of potential environmental impacts and long-term consequences.
