SC urged to urgently list contempt plea over alleged release of GM rice

The Supreme Court was urged on Monday to swiftly address contempt petitions alleging breach of its 2024 judgment concerning genetically modified (GM) crops, following the reported approval for cultivating herbicide-tolerant GM basmati rice. Lawyer Prashant Bhushan argued that with the green light for herbicide-tolerant GM basmati rice, the contempt plea should be heard promptly.

He referred to the 2024 judgment from a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol, which had a divided opinion on one issue and was referred to a larger bench. Bhushan explained that the contempt petitions stem from the identical judgment and are unrelated to the reference related to GM mustard, which was scheduled before a special three-judge bench.

These petitions, filed in 2025, have not been addressed despite prior mentions. Bhushan highlighted that the special bench dealing with the GM mustard reference refused to consider the contempt petitions, and now the court has given the go-ahead for planting genetically modified basmati rice, which is herbicide-tolerant. He emphasized that this will damage basmati rice, contaminate it, and cause chaos.

The petition, filed by activist Aruna Rodrigues as part of her PIL initiated in 2025, accuses senior government officials of willfully and intentionally ignoring the Supreme Court's orders on the release of GM and gene-edited crops.