Monsanto
The National Biodiversity Authority has filed the country’s first ever bio-piracy criminal case against US agrochemicals giant Monsanto and its Indian partner Mahyco on the Bt brinjal issue in a Karnataka Court. This is seen as an attempt by the authority to raise the levels of compliance with the Biological Diversity Act by biotechnology and pharma sectors. Companies seeking to make commercial use of domestic biological resources have to take approval from the authority and comply with the benefit-sharing norms. The developers of Bt Brinjal have been accused of using local brinjal varieties for development without taking necessary approvals, which was in violation of the Act.