The Supreme Court has stayed the commercial release of Genetically Modified (GM) Mustard crop for ten days and asked the Centre to take public opinion on such seeds before releasing it for cultivation purpose.<br/><br/>A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A M Khanwilkar said yesterday that the Centre will not commercially release the GM Mustard crop till October 17 when it will hear the matter in detail.<br/><br/>Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the Centre needs to file reply to the petition and refuted the allegation that sowing of the seeds was being done without relevant tests.<br/><br/>Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Aruna Rodrigues, alleged that without doing relevant tests, they were carrying out field trials of the crop. Mustard is one of India's most important winter crops which is sown between mid-October and late November.

The Supreme Court has stayed the commercial release of Genetically Modified (GM) Mustard crop for ten days and asked the Centre to take public opinion on such seeds before releasing it for cultivation purpose.<br/>A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A M Khanwilkar said yesterday that the Centre will not commercially release the GM Mustard crop till October 17 when it will hear the matter in detail.<br/><br/>Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the Centre needs to file reply to the petition and refuted the allegation that sowing of the seeds was being done without relevant tests.<br/><br/>Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Aruna Rodrigues, alleged that without doing relevant tests, they were carrying out field trials of the crop. Mustard is one of India's most important winter crops which is sown between mid-October and late November.