Skip to main content

Pepsi action against Gujarat potato farmers declared 'violation of public interest'

By Jag Jivan   
The Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Authority has accepted a farm activist’s Revocation Application, to revoke the varietal registration of Pepsico India Holding (PIH) on potato variety FL-2027.
Calling it a a precedent-setting judgement a joint note issued by several farmers' rights groups said, it means that anything that threatens farmers rights as contained in India's unique legislation is, and ought to be a matter of Public Interest. "This is a victory for farmers of India", it said.
PPV&FR in its virtual hearing accepted a plea for revocation of the PVP certificate granted to PepsiCo India Holding on the potato variety in India (FL-2027), on multiple grounds.
Grounds included are: that the grant of the certificate of registration has been based on incorrect information furnished by the applicant (Sec.34 (a)), that the certificate has been granted to a person not eligible for protection (Sec.34(b)), that the breeder did not provide the Registrar with such information, documents or material as required for registration (Sec.34 (c)), and that the grant of the certificate of registration is not in the public interest (Sec.34 (h)).
This means that Pepsico’s varietal intellectual property rights (IPR) as granted in a plant variety certificate in February 2016 will be taken back by the authority. The judgement brings to light the procedural gaps in the grant of PVCs. Importantly, farmers’ rights as contained in India’s Act and any attempt to harass and intimidate farmers have been considered as a matter of public interest, through this judgement.
The revocation application used specific clauses (Sec.34 (g)) in India's Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act 2001 and argued that the IPR granted to Pepsico India on a potato variety was not as per provisions laid down for registration and was also against public interest. The revocation application was filed by farmer rights activist Kavitha Kuruganti, who said, the judgement is unprecedented in India's statutory history related to farmers' seed rights.
The revocation application was filed on June 11, 2019, and the authority took almost 30 months in arriving at this conclusion on Kuruganti's application. The company now has just about two months of the original registration time period left which was till January 31, 2022 (the registration certificate given to the company was renewable up to January 31, 2031, but now stands revoked).
The judgement sets a precedent for all seed and F&B corporations and other registrants to not only uphold, but also more importantly, not to transgress the legally granted farmers’ seed rights and freedoms in India, said Kuruganti.
“This judgement of the Authority is significant and historic. It upholds farmers’ seed freedoms as contained in Sec. 39 of the PPV&FR Act, which makes this sui generis law of India truly unique. The Authority’s acceptance of the Revocation Application, including on grounds of being against public interest, sends an important signal that farmers’ rights cannot be taken lightly by IPR-holders in the country", said Shalini Bhutani, legal researcher and IPR expert in agriculture and biodiversity.
"This should prevent further intimidation of farmers through vexatious IP lawsuits. The PPV&FR Act 2001 provides routine legal provisions for opposition to the IP registration at the time of grant of registration [Sec.21(3) read with Sec. 34]", Bhutani explained.
"The grounds for subsequent revocation include [Sec. 34(h)] that the grant of the certificate of registration is not in public interest; this is a fundamental safeguard for farmers’ inherent seed rights Sec.34 for Revocation of the IP protection has been reinforced by our law-makers in their wisdom keeping in mind that developments warranting intervention could happen after the grant of certificate of registration, requiring the said IP Registration to be revoked”, she added.
The civil society note said, in the current case, Pepsico India used the certificate that it got from the authority on FL-2027 potato variety to sue hapless and uninformed farmers in Gujarat in 2018 and 2019, basing its actions on a non-existent exclusive right that it claims to have obtained against Indian farmers also. The judgement of the authority also says this.
On the other hand, the Indian legislation is unambiguous that farmers have over-arching rights over what seed they can plant as well as what they are entitled to do with their produce from any variety, including seed of registered variety. The only condition is that they may not sell seed of protected varieties in a branded fashion, knowingly, the note continued.
Indian legislation is unambiguous: Farmers have over-arching rights over what seed they can plant and what they are entitled to do with their produce
Even here, an Indian farmer can claim innocent infringement if done unknowingly. Despite the law being this clear, Pepsico India harassed and intimidated farmers and sued them for exorbitant levels of alleged damages in 2018 and 2019. PIH also engaged detectives to entrap farmers and took secret video footage to build its cases, it added.
“It is a welcome development. With this judgement, the authority has chosen to uphold the legal rights granted to farmers and has decisively considered Pepsi’s actions against potato farmers in Gujarat as a violation of public interest. The Order today follows another responsible action that the Authority took several months ago, when it corrected the factual mistakes we pointed out in the FAQs document on their website", said Dr Suman Sahai of the Gene Campaign.
"We are happy with the result of this case filed with the Authority and feel proud to be instrumental in setting up the precedent that asserts farmers’ rights. We are thankful to the farm activists also", said Bipinbhai Patel, one of the farmers sued by PIH in 2019.
"We believe that the Authority and the Government have a responsibility to let every applicant and registrant under the PPV&FR Act know that their rights do not supersede farmers' rights. The registrants’ rights are limited to only production of a variety, and not production from a variety. Even when it comes to production of a variety, farmers have rights to produce seed and even sell seed of a protected variety provided it is unbranded", said Kapil Shah of the Kisan Beej Adhikar Manch.
"Companies should not think that they are at liberty to harass farmers -- we are watching, and will disallow any such mischief. For us, any intimidation and harassment of farmers is clearly a matter of public interest. We sincerely hope that the Authority will proactively put into place all measures and mechanisms possible to ensure that farmers' rights are not violated at any cost", asserted Kuruganti.
The interpretation of 'public interest' by the Authority today is very progressive. This is a victory for farmers in the country, especially of the potato farmers in Gujarat who strongly resisted Pepsi’s onslaught on their rights in 2019", she added.

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan   M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.
Post a Comment
»

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai*  The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.
Post a Comment
»

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.
Post a Comment
»

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.
Post a Comment
»

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

​ By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  ​The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.
Post a Comment
»

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan*  An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...
2 comments
»

School closures across states raise concerns amid Govt of India claims of improved access

By A Representative   A recent report has raised concerns over the closure and merger of government schools in several Indian states, particularly in Bihar, where a significant number of institutions have reportedly been shut down or earmarked for closure.
Post a Comment
»

Health activist group raises concerns over HPV vaccination drive, seeks temporary halt

By A Representative   Swasthya Adhikar Manch, a public health advocacy group, has urged the Union government to ensure greater accountability and transparency in the ongoing Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign, and called for its temporary suspension pending a comprehensive review. In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, the group flagged what it described as unresolved concerns surrounding the nationwide rollout of the HPV vaccine, which began on February 28, 2026. The campaign targets 14-year-old girls and involves administering Gardasil, a quadrivalent vaccine intended to protect against certain strains of HPV linked to cervical cancer.
Post a Comment
»