Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued contempt notice to the Managing Director,Dharampal Satyapal Group of companies,makers of pan masala brand Rajnigandha,on a application alleging that it has violated an apex court on the use of plastic to wrap their products.
The court had on December 7,2010 banned plastic from being used to wrap gutkha,tobacco,pan masala and other products. The prohibition had come into force from March 1,2011.
One big group of Dharampal Satyapal whose turnover runs into thousands of crores of rupees which manufactures big brands like Rajnigandha,Tulsi has still been packing its products in plastic material even after March 1. Such products are easily available in the market with packaging date of March 2011 and April 2011, advocate Prashant Bhushan,representing the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation,argued his contempt application in court on Wednesday.
It alleged that if this wilful contempt is not punished,then not only will it result in other manufacturers using plastic material.
Consequently,a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly asked the Centre to ensure total compliance of its December 2010 order in letter and spirit.
The bench asked Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium to file an affidavit on the compliance so far carried out by the states/Union Territories.
The application lists Rajeev Kumar,Managing Director,DS Group and Dr Tishyarakshit Chatterjee,Secretary,Ministry of Environment & Forests as parties.
This,prima facie,amounts to a serious violation of courts order and thus constitutes a contempt of court. This violation by such a big group could not have been done without the tacit understanding with the enforcement agencies that no action would be taken against the business group, the application said.
The NGO also sought contempt action against Ministry of Environment and Forests Secretary.
