GM mustard to cause irreversible damage, Supreme Court told

New Delhi, November 30

GM mustard seeds have started germinating and before the plants start flowering in a few weeks these must be uprooted to prevent the environment from getting irreversibly contaminated, petitioners against genetically modified (GM) crops told the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) approved the environmental release of transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11 on October 25.

On behalf of activist Aruna Rodrigues, advocate Prashant Bhushan said no one knew about the effect of environmental release of GM mustard, which has the potential of contaminating all mustard seeds in the country.

“The only benefit claimed is that the technology will be used for developing new hybrids. The precautionary principle is squarely applicable to this case. When there is significant doubt about the potential harmful effect of allowing something, this principle applies,” Bhushan told the Bench.