Hyderabad: Telangana high court has dismissed a petition challenging the preventive detention (PD) of a man booked as an “insecticide offender” under the Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act, 1986, ruling that the sale of spurious pesticides and seeds to farmers amounts to a disturbance of public order and not merely a law and order issue.
Aditya was detained under the PD Act by Warangal police after he was involved in four cases of supplying spurious insecticides to farmers. His wife Aerlam alias Muddangula Anuradha moved a petition challenging his detention. The court observed that the sale of spurious insecticides and seeds causes serious harm to the farming community, as gullible farmers buy such products believing they would protect crops and boost yield, only to suffer stunted growth and reduced output. Given that India remains a largely agrarian economy, the court held that the sale of misbranded insecticides cannot be viewed as an isolated transaction between a buyer and a seller but must be assessed for its wider impact on public order and safety. Citing similar precedents involving spurious seed offenders, the court found the detention order legally sound and dismissed the petition.