HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has held that the manufacture, storage, sale and distribution of spurious, substandard and misbranded pesticides cannot be treated as mere commercial offences, as such activities can affect public peace and security.
A bench of Justices Moushumi Bhattacharya and Renuka Yara dismissed a writ petition filed by Muddamgula Anuradha, wife of Muddamgula Aditya, challenging his detention order dated September 8, 2025, under the Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act, 1986.
Aditya was detained as an “insecticide offender” on allegations that he procured spurious pesticides from Uttar Pradesh at low prices, repackaged them under the names of various companies and sold them to farmers through agents.
The court noted that four cases were registered against him in 2025 and laboratory tests found several pesticide samples to be misbranded. In one case, counterfeit products bearing the names of Corteva Agriscience and Bayer were allegedly seized, while another involved counterfeit and expired pesticides. In a separate case, fake seeds and pesticides worth about Rs 53.55 lakh were recovered.
The bench observed that inadequate levels of active ingredients in several samples could reduce crop yields and cause financial losses to farmers, potentially leading to unrest among the farming community.
The bench found no ground to interfere with the detention order and dismissed the writ petition and all connected petitions.