Kerala HC quashes govt ban on sale of Coca-Cola, 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 Justice M Ramachandran, in a 90-page judgment, 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.

The latest court battle cropped up even as a special leave petition filed by the Kerala Government last year against a high court judgement allowing Coca Cola to draw five lakh litres of groundwater at its Plachimada bottling plant was pending in the Supreme Court.

In an ironic twist of events, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which had given a red carpet welcome to the Cola majors to set up their bottling plants in Kerala in 1999, led the charge against the two companies while it was in the Opposition for the past five years.

In a statement here, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd welcomed the High Court judgement revoking the ban on the soft drinks and expressed hope that other state governments would follow suit.

In Kozhikode, Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithy (KVVES) said state governments were not competent enough to ban food products and the traders would continue selling the products if the demand persisted.

The High 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.

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