The Supreme Court will hear on Friday, a petiton challenging the UPA Government’s decision to import 57 lakh tonne wheat. The petition has been filed by environmental activist Vandana Shiva.

It says the government was importing wheat at a time when the Rabi crop was being harvested. The domestic production of the cereal during 2005-06 was expected to be 730.6 lakh tonne, much higher than the consumption of 716.1 lakh tonne, it said, adding that import of the cereal would ‘‘compromise Indian food security and independence and shift the spate of farmers’ suicides in cotton areas to the wheat growing areas’’.

While wheat was available in India at Rs 700 per quintal, the import was being done at a ‘‘prohibitive rate’’ of Rs 1,000 a quintal, Shiva said and rubbished Government claims that this was to offset the low procurement during the season and falling buffer stocks.

She alleged that the move did not have the mandatory approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which was the competent authority for approval of foodgrain imports.

The petition also referred to the import of the PL-480 variety of Mexican wheat in the sixties saying it brought into India the deadly Parthenium hysterophorus weed which now occupies 15 per cent of the country’s geographical area. Besides, it also introduced two pests — ergot and dwarf bunt — in the country for which there was zero tolerance earlier, said Shiva.

On the present lot, first of which was five tonne imported from Australia, it said the same was found to have dangerously high levels of pesticides — 0.25 parts per million, which was 5 times over the permissible limit of 0.05 ppm. But instead of sending the cargo back, the Government had the tests redone and suddenly the pesticide residues were within ‘‘permissible limits’’, the petition charged.

... contd.