The Madras High Court on Monday began hearing final arguments on an appeal preferred by K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji, Minister for Milk and Dairy Development, challenging a single judge’s October 20 order restraining him from making “baseless accusations of adulteration against private dairies in the State as a whole.”
A Division Bench of Justices R. Subbiah and R. Pongiappan heard day-long arguments advanced by senior counsel P.R. Raman, representing three private dairies which had claimed damages of ₹1 crore, as well as advocate V. Raghavachari, appearing on behalf of the Minister, before adjourning the hearing to Tuesday.
The interim order under challenge was passed by Justice C.V. Karthikeyan who had also injuncted the Minister from making any statement or remark disparaging either the three private milk sellers — Hatsun Agro Product, Dodla Dairy and Vijay Dairy and Farm Products — or the products sold by them.
During the hearing on Monday, Mr. Raghavachari contended that the Minister had last year claimed that only some private dairies were selling adulterated milk. “He did not name any particular dairy. When there are 600 to 700 dairies, how can the plaintiffs presume that the Minister meant only them?” the counsel wondered.
Stating that the Minister, holding a public office, had a duty to caution and educate the people on the food products consumed by them, the counsel contended that the civil suit filed jointly by the three dairies seeking damages of ₹1 crore was not maintainable at all since there was no material to prove any damage caused to the plaintiffs.
He also contended that the Minister could not be accused of attempting to promote sale of Aavin by making such statements because it was run by a cooperative federation. The Minister had, in fact, offered to resign from his post if any one could prove that Aavin milk was of poor quality, the counsel pointed out.
In his submissions, Mr. Raman said the Minister had no test reports to back his claim when he first made a press statement on May 25 last year accusing private dairies of mixing chemicals that cause cancer. A report was obtained subsequently and that too from a laboratory which the Minister himself had admitted to be lacking the capacity to conduct such tests.
“If he chooses to test our milk in a lab of his choice, then obviously the result will be designed to suit his convenience. If a duty is cast on the Minister to do something, he could have done so by cautioning the private dairies and not by going to the press and saying that all private dairies are selling adulterated milk,” the senior counsel said.
Mr. Raman went on to state that the Minister could have, on the alternative, named the dairies against whom he had suspicion or issued notices to those dairies as mandated by the Supreme Court in a related case. “He did neither of these things. The State government is supposed to constitute a committee as per Supreme Court orders. That has also not been done,” he charged.
