Bt Brinjal:petition against approval for environmental release

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Chennai, Feb 8 (PTI) A petition, seeking to declare as null and void the approval granted for"environmental release"of Bt Brinjal in India, was filed in the Madras High Court today.

The petitioner, Dr K Thiruthanikachalam, a Siddha practitioner and Tamil environment and health monthly magazine editor, claimed several experts in the field had opined that&aposthe release would invite serious risk for human and animal health&apos.

He pointed out that Dr P M Bhargava, appointed by the Supreme Court to be part of an expert committee on Bt Brinjal, had protested over its introduction, saying it was not proper to accept international guidelines for safety assessment and that bio-safety assessment should be based on national guidelines.

"However all these were brushed aside,"he said.

Thiruthanikachalam claimed eminent persons like Giles Eric Seralini of Caen University, France had stated that its release for food, feed or culture would pose grave risk to human and animal health.

Under rules for manufacture, use, import and storage of hazardous micro organisms, genetically engineered organisms or cells, every state in India has to have a Biotechnology Coordination Committee for granting approval, he said.

The"unilateral nod"by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee for production, sale, import or use of Bt Brinjal&aposis arbitrary, unreasonable, unfair and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, he said, alleging that the recommendation to release it was to help multinationals and not in public interest.

He claimed there was just six days between submission of the expert committee&aposs report and its acceptance by the Approval Committee.

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