varnam

When panchayats start playing political games, the High Court has to step in. Remember the Coke plant in Kerala which was sanctioned by the Communists and then later opposed by them. The panchayat then refused to renew the licence and Coke went to court. The Court then gave permission for the plant to pump a fixed amount of water, but still the panchayat would not renew the licence since panchayats in Kerala follow the Klingon legal system. But, Kerala High Court was not amused.

In a major relief to the soft drinks major Coca Cola, the Kerala high court today directed the Perumatty panchayat, where the companyâ??s bottling plant is located, to renew its license within a week. The direction was issued by a division bench comprising justice M Ramachandran and justice K P Balachandran while allowing a petition by the Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages complaining that despite a high court order, the panchayat was refusing to renew their licence. The bench held that if a formal licence was not issued by the panchayat within a week, it should be deemed that the companyâ??s licence had been renewed from june 10, 2004 for two years. It would be within the companyâ??s rights to carry on its functioning.[HC asks panchayat to renew Coke licence]