Manas Dasgupta
Ahmedabad, May 11
In keeping with the promise it had given to the Gujarat government, US food and beverages giant PepsiCo India has withdrawn all cases against the farmers in the state for alleged breach of rights in producing a particular variety of potato patented by it.
The company had earlier withdrawn cases against two farmers in Deesa in Banaskantha district. Yesterday, it informed various other courts where similar cases were filed by the company against nine other farmers, all in north Gujarat regions, that it had decided against further pursuing the cases and on being granted permission sought to withdraw the law suits unconditionally. The company in all had filed cases against 11 farmers in Gujarat at different times for the same “offence”.
After the state government decided to join as a party in the case in favour of the farmers last month, the company assured the government it would seek the court’s permission to withdraw the cases and would “rely on its discussions with the government to find a long-term and amicable solution to the issues surrounding seed protection.”
The affected farmers said the company backtracking on its steps was a major victory for the farming community as a whole as well as various farmer bodies, social activists and others who stood by the farmers in their struggle against the giant.
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/30cRD8t
via Today’s News Headlines
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