CCFI has filed a defamation suit and sought '50 crore in damages from Greenpeace India
Picture for representational purpose
Mumbai: The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), the apex body representing the agro-chemical industry has decided to file a defamation suit and seek Rs50 crore in damages from Greenpeace India for raising baseless allegations against many Indian tea brands. In a report titled “Trouble Brewing: Pesticides Residues in Tea Samples” released last month, Greenpeace alleged that many Indian tea brands have high level of hazardous and moderately hazardous pesticides.
“Greenpeace India is continuously refusing to disclose and share essential elements of its findings such as the raw data, chromatograms, the protocols followed, the name of the laboratory and scientists who analysed the tea sample allegedly collected from India,” the industry body said.
It has also sought a public apology from Greenpeace India and has asked it to withdraw the report if it cannot make public all the raw data concerning this questionable study for scrutiny by Indian experts. CCFI stated that Greenpeace India has exploited its perceived position in the society by taking a stand against the fast growing Indian agriculture sector in order to ultimately benefit foreign powers, which are its major donors.
Stating that such motivated campaigns by Greenpeace India, a foreign funded NGO is a threat to India’s economic security, CCFI alleged that Greenpeace India’s aim is to discredit the local tea industry, which is the second largest tea producer.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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