Punjab High Court Grants Stay on Ban of 12 Insecticides for Basmati Paddy
14 August 2025, New Delhi: The Punjab High Court has granted a stay on the enforcement of the Punjab Government’s notification banning 12 pesticide molecules on Basmati paddy crops. The case was filed by the Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) which challenged the notification on grounds of arbitrariness and lack of scientific evidence.
The matter was listed on 30 July 2025 at the Chandigarh bench, where CCFI, represented by Senior Advocate Ashish Kothari and their legal team, presented detailed submissions against the 10 May 2025 notification, which initially banned 11 commonly used insecticides, with Hexaconazole added later as the 12th. The industry body argued that the order was issued solely on speculative risk, without supporting laboratory investigations, data on pesticide residue levels, or evidence of consignment rejections.
CCFI highlighted that similar notifications have been repeatedly issued before sowing seasons in previous years, restricting the industry’s ability to respond and effectively challenging judicial review. The Federation contended that such actions amounted to an abuse of statutory powers and violated the rights of both the agrochemical industry and farmers relying on registered formulations.
During the hearing, the the minutes of the 465th meeting of the Registration Committee (RC) dated 10 July 2025 were submitted, indicating that no safety concerns had been identified regarding the continued use of the insecticides in question, all of which are registered for pan-India use. The Court noted that toxicological data submitted by manufacturers at the time of registration had been duly evaluated by designated authorities in accordance with safety norms.
Taking these submissions into account, the Hon’ble Court observed that the Punjab Government’s actions were arbitrary and exceeded its statutory powers, and accordingly granted a stay on the implementation of the notification.
The 12 insecticides that were part of the challenged notification are Acephate, Buprofezin, Chlorpyriphos, Propiconazole, Thiamethoxam, Profenofos, Carbendazim, Tricyclazole, Tebuconazole, Carbofuran, Imidacloprid, Hexaconazole.
Nirmala Pathrawal, Executive Director, CCFI said, “The agrochemical industry has welcomed the court’s decision, viewing it as a vital safeguard against regulatory overreach and a reinforcement of evidence-based policy-making.”
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