Soft drinks row: Govt asked to look at proposal for regulator

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the government to consider the recommendations of an NGO seeking setting up regulatory mechanism for soft drink products in the country.

A bench comprising Justices A K Thakker and Dalveer Bhandari gave the direction while hearing a public interest litigation by the 'Centre for Public Interest Litigation' after the NGO's counsel Prashant Bhushan sought regulation of the "misleading" advertisements by cola companies and mandatory disclosure of contents, including chemical additives, of the cold drinks on their package.

The matter will come up for hearing in the second week of July.

The court also asked the government to submit a report stating the steps being taken on the implementation of the N K Ganguly Committee report.

While raising serious doubts over the government's sincerity in this regard, Bhushan said the issue was important as it involved the health of people, particularly children who were being lured by the cola companies through "misleading" advertisements.

Stating that the consumer had the right to know what he consumes, he argued all the carbonated drinks should disclose the composition and contents of the products, including the presence of pesticides and chemicals, on the bottle, package or container.