HC clears Drs over pesticide remarks on ‘Satyamev Jayate’ show

A single-judge bench of Justice Milind Jadhav passed the order on August 18, quashing complaints filed in 2015 against Dr Rashmi Sanghi and Dr Gopal Kabra by the Crop Care Federation of India Ltd

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has quashed defamation cases against two doctors over comments they made about pesticides on Aamir Khan’s TV show Satyamev Jayate, saying their remarks were based on their own research and did not target any particular pesticide manufacturer or marketer.

Aamir-Khan-s-popularity-continues-to-soar-with-Satyamev-Jayate

A single-judge bench of Justice Milind Jadhav passed the order on August 18, quashing complaints filed in 2015 against Dr Rashmi Sanghi and Dr Gopal Kabra by the Crop Care Federation of India Ltd, an organisation whose members include pesticide and insecticide manufacturers and marketers.

The case related to the show’s June 24, 2012 episode titled “Toxic Food- Poison in Our Plate”. Sanghi spoke briefly about her 2003 research, while Kabra spoke for around three to four minutes. They spoke about fruits and vegetables having abnormally high levels of pesticide residues and added that such residues cause folic acid deficiencies in pregnant mothers, which then leads to causing skull deformities in newborn babies.

The NGO had objected to comments made by the doctors. It claimed the statements were false and malicious and had created fear among the public.

Kabra maintained that his comments were based on research into the effects of pesticide exposure. “Pesticides are highly injurious; this is a fact. They can cause cancer and congenital disorders,” he said.

He also alleged that the case was intended to pressure him and Sanghi. “The case appeared to be a slap litigation simply to coerce us,” he said.

The court noted that the doctors’ statements were supported by their research papers and reports of the Department of Science and Technology and the Voluntary Health Association of India. There was no attempt to blame or tarnish the reputation of any pesticide manufacturer or marketer, it said.

The court also questioned the delay in filing the complaint, noting that it was lodged almost three years after the episode was telecast, which it said “prima facie speaks volumes on the part of the complainant”.

Accordingly, the court quashed the criminal complaints against the two doctors pending before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate court.