New Delhi: The Supreme Court was on Monday urged to urgently list contempt petitions alleging violation of its 2024 judgment on genetically modified crops, amid concerns over the alleged approval for the cultivation of herbicide-tolerant GM basmati rice.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan made the request before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. He said the contempt pleas should be heard at the earliest as approval had now been given for cultivating herbicide-tolerant GM basmati rice, and argued that the petitions were separate from the pending reference on GM mustard.
Bhushan referred to the 2024 judgment delivered by a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol, which gave a split verdict on one issue and referred it to a larger bench. He said the contempt petitions arose from the common judgment and were not connected to the reference listed before a special three-judge bench. The contempt petitions are not related to the reference, he submitted, adding that they arise out of the common judgment of the court and can be listed before a regular contempt bench.
He told the court that the contempt petition, filed in 2025, had not been taken up despite being mentioned earlier. According to him, the special bench hearing the GM mustard reference had declined to hear the contempt petitions. They have now given the go-ahead to plant genetically modified basmati rice, which is a herbicide-tolerant variety, Bhushan said while urging the court to list the matter urgently, warning that it would destroy and contaminate traditional basmati.
The contempt plea was filed by activist Aruna Rodrigues as part of her public interest litigation initiated in 2025. It seeks contempt proceedings against senior government officials, alleging wilful and deliberate disobedience of the Supreme Court's orders on the release of genetically modified and gene-edited crops.
The petition alleged that the Centre violated the apex court's July 23, 2024 judgment, which directed it to frame a comprehensive national policy on GM crops through a consultative process involving experts, state governments and other stakeholders before such crops were released. It also alleged that herbicide-tolerant basmati rice varieties sold under the brand name RobiNOweed were commercially released in May 2024, while gene-edited rice varieties, including DRR Rice 100, sold as Kamla, and Pusa DST Rice 1, were released in May 2025.
According to the plea, these releases took place despite the government's earlier assurance to the court that no environmental release of GM crops would happen before a comprehensive policy was formulated. The matter before the court centres on whether the alleged release of GM and gene-edited crop varieties breached the Supreme Court's 2024 directions, with the petitioners seeking urgent hearings on the contempt action.