Kerala HC quashes ban on Coke, Pepsi

Kochi, Sep 22 (UNI) The Kerala High Court today quashed the state government decision of August 10 to ban the production and sale of Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola in Kerala, holding the order was arbitrary and without due jurisdiction of power.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice V K Bali and Mr Justice M Ramachandran held the state government had no power under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA) to ban food products.

The court said the shifting stand of the government during the course of arguments was surprising and noted in the light of the authoritative judgement of the Supreme Court in the 'Pan Masala' case in 2004, the same was binding on all courts.

The court also said before passing the drastic orders entailing a complete ban on colas, the government did not follow the principles of natural justice.

In the circumstances, the court held that the ban order was passed without complying with the formalities and was arbitrary.

The court also held the government had acted merely on the basis of the report of the Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based NGO, without waiting for the report of the Central analyst.

In their separate petitions, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd and Pepsi India Holdings Private Ltd had sought the quashing of the Kerala Government's ban order of August 10 and order of the Director of Health Services of August 11.

The petitioners contended the action of the government was an unreasonable restriction, violative of Article 19 (1) g of the Constitution of India and also arbitrary, violating Article 14.

It was further submitted that the order of the government was ''politically motivated'' and was passed as a knee-jerk response without making any investigation to verify the CSE report.

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