[news] Court To The Rescue Of Coca Cola in India

[Resist!ca]

By Karthika Thampan | 04 June, 2005 | Countercurrents.org In an unprecedented judgement Division Bench of the Kerala High Court directed Perumatty gramapanchayath (local council) to renew within one week from Wednesday, the licence granted by the panchayat to Hindustan CocaCola Beverages Ltd to run its plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district, in the south Indian state of Kerala. The court ordered that if a formal licence is not issued by the panchayat within the time prescribed, it should be deemed that the company possesses the renewed licence, and the company will have the right to carry on its functions for a period of two years with effect from June 10, 2004.direction was issued by the Bench consisting of Justice M. Ramachandran and Justice Balachandran while allowing a writ petition filed by the company praying to direct the panchayat to comply with the court's judgment on April 7, 2005, declaring that the company was entitled to function, drawing half a million litres of ground water per day.

URL: http://resist.ca/story/2005/6/13/93642/6580