Karnataka High Court issues notice in PIL highlighting egregious biopiracy and governmental apathy
The Principal Bench of the High Court of Karnataka (comprising Chief Justice Mr. Vikramjit Sen and Justice Mrs. B. V. Nagarathna) ordered issue of notice in the Public Interest Litigation (Writ Petition No. 41532/2012) filed by Environment Support Group, Bangalore (ESG) and listed the matter for further consideration for the fourth week of January 2013. ESG’s petition highlights the shocking state of biodiversity conservation in India, and urges the Court to direct attention to the widespread practice of biopiracy by national and international corporate bodies. Further, the petition highlights a number of specific defects, lacunae and failures in the current legal and institutional regimes that are directly resulting in the rampant irreversible loss of India's biological diversity and associated traditional knowledge, and are thereby threatening not only sovereign control over biological resources but also the livelihoods of indigenous and natural resources dependent peoples.