Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), the apex body representing the agrochemical industry in India, has filed a criminal defamation case in a Magistrate's court against NGO Greenpeace over its report on alleged overuse of pesticides in the tea industry.
Greenpeace India had in August 2014 released a report 'Trouble Brewing: Pesticide Residues in Tea Sample', which claimed that tea being sold by 8 of the 11 biggest tea brands in India contained pesticides.
According to the report, the NGO claimed to have found 34 different pesticides in tea samples taken from the retail markets in India. Greenpeace tested 49 samples, of which 46 allegedly tested positive for one or more pesticide.
Aggrieved by this report, CCFI had last year sent a legal notice to Greenpeace asking it to substantiate its claims with concrete data. Greenpeace, however, refused to provide details of its study.
Following this, CCFI filed a criminal complaint against Greenpeace India before a metropolitan magistrate court in suburban Bandra. The complaint is likely to come up for hearing on June 20.