Cola row: CII welcomes WB's decision on inquiry

WB CM denied banning colas in the state till their samples were tested positive for pesticides.

Industry body CII on Thursday welcomed West Bengal government's decision to conduct an independent inquiry for finding pesticide residues in soft drinks.

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CII President R Seshasayee expressed satisfaction at the process undertaken by the state government in arriving at a decision with respect to the cola controversy, based on an independent and government-authorised verification conducted on cola samples.

In the overall public interest, the Rule of Law should be considered supreme and other states should also follow a similar approach in this matter, a CII release said.

State Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee earlier on Thursday said that colas would not be banned in West Bengal till the state government received a report on samples sent for testing.

Earlier this month, another Left-ruled state Kerala had banned the production and sale of colas based on a report by an NGO—Centre for Science and Environment—which claimed that 11 products of PepsiCo and Coca Cola contained pesticide residues more than the permissible limit.