Hyderabad: Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, a vacation judge of the Hyderabad High Court, on Thursday granted stay of a GO issued by the Telangana state government in fixing Rs 50 as royalty on sale of each bag of BT Cotton seeds manufactured by Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Pvt. Ltd. The judge was dealing with a plea by the company and another challenging the GO.
Kapil Sibal senior counsel of the Supreme Court arguing for the petitioners contended that the state government has no power to decide the royalty on the products manufactured by the company and it was purely in the domain of the manufacturer.
He said that his clients have no objection on the maximum retail price fixed by the state agricultural authorities, but they have acted beyond their brief in fixing the royalty on sale of cotton seeds produced by his clients.
He said there was an internal understanding between his clients and other private companies and as per the understanding the petitioners have to pay Rs 186 as royalty on sale of each bag, ignoring this fact the government has fixed Rs 50 as royalty. While staying the GO pertaining to fixing of the royalty, the judge issued notices to the respondents to file their counter affidavits and adjourned the matter.
