SC: According to luxury lawsuit is a plea for improving the quality of bottled drinking water
SC: A PIL seeking the implementation of international standards for bottled drinking water was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Thursday, citing it as a suitable example of “luxury litigation” in a nation where a sizable portion of the population lacks access to basic drinking water.
“Madam, where is this nation’s drinking water? Chief Justice Surya Kant, seated alongside Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said that these are “luxury litigations” and that “people do not have drinking water; the quality of bottled water will come later.”
Sarang Vaman Yadwadkar filed a PIL with the bench, seeking instructions to raise and harmonize Indian packaged drinking water standards with international norms.
The CJI first questioned the petition’s basic premise, noting that the court could not ignore the nation’s larger realities.
Do you believe we can adopt the same standards as Saudi Arabia, Australia, and the United Kingdom? The bench said, “This is an urban-centric approach; people in rural areas drink groundwater and nothing happens to them.”
The petitioner’s attorney, senior advocate Anita Shenoy, said that consumer safety and public health were at stake. The lawyer claimed that residents had a right to clean and safe bottled drinking water and that legislative responsibilities could not be weakened, citing Section 18 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which requires adherence to specified safety standards.
The panel advised the petitioner to give India more time to develop, saying, “Let’s face the country’s ground realities.” No one takes up the impoverished people’s cause. It’s all urbanized phobia.
The court also suggested that she visit the other side of the nation to see the truth. “After returning from South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi traveled through rural areas to understand the plight of the people,” the CJI said.
However, the judge permitted the PIL to be withdrawn with the freedom to seek reconsideration from the FSSAI and other appropriate authorities.