HC upholds mandatory jute packaging for sugar industry
Bengaluru : The Karnataka High Court has rejected the petitions brought by the South Indian Sugar Mills Association (Karnataka) and the Indian Sugar Mills Association seeking to exempt sugar from the Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act of 1987.
The petitions had challenged Union government notifications mandating that 20% of sugar be packed in jute bags, according to a Deccan Herald report. While foodgrains must be packed entirely in jute bags, the requirement for sugar is limited to one-fifth of production.
The associations argued that the mandate was intended only to promote the jute industry and raised health concerns, claiming that the use of jute batching oil in weaving jute bags is tumorigenic and could contaminate sugar. They also cited instances of governments in Punjab, Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh flagging similar risks.
Rejecting the plea, the court noted that the Supreme Court had earlier upheld a 100% jute packaging mandate for sugar and cement industries, stressing its role in advancing socio-economic justice for jute farmers and workers under the Directive Principles of State Policy.
“Once the compulsion of 100% packaging upon the sugar industry was upheld by the Supreme Court, the present grievance against a mere 20% reservation can scarcely aspire to higher favour,” Justice M. Nagaprasanna observed.
The court also pointed out that jute batching oil used in bag manufacturing is sealed with a thin layer to prevent leakage, moisture absorption, and pilferage of sugar. Whether it poses carcinogenic risks, the court said, is a matter for the Standing Advisory Committee to evaluate.
Concluding, the bench held that the 20% mandate for jute packaging in the sugar industry was “neither arbitrary nor unreasonable.”
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23-year-old woman found dead at Delhi home; suicide suspected
New Delhi (PTI): A 23-year-old woman was found dead in her house in Delhi's Prem Nagar area, with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide, an official said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Anjali Singh, was found motionless in her room on Monday by her sister and her neighbour.
Police said her father, Vinod Kumar Singh (51), told them that he and his wife were away at work at the time of the incident, while their son and the other daughter were also not at home at the time of the incident.
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According to the family, the room in which Anjali was found was locked from the inside. The door was later forcibly opened by a neighbour and her sister with the help of a crowbar.
Her body was found lying on the bed inside the room, police said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Anjali had allegedly hanged herself using a piece of cloth tied to the ceiling fan.
It is suspected that the noose eventually might have loosened or torn off, resulting in her being found lying on the bed.
Family members informed the police that Anjali was a final-year student of a librarian science course from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). About a week ago, her final-year examination results were declared, and she had failed, following which she had been under depression, they said.
The family has not raised any allegation of foul play, police said, adding that no suicide note or external injury marks were found on the body during the initial inspection.
Inquest proceedings have been initiated in the matter as per the law. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death, and further investigation is underway, police added.
