KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday issued an interim order in the name of the government to allow vegetables and fruits imported from India only after checking for pesticides.

A single bench of justice Ananda Mohan Bhattarai issued the order after hearing three writ petitions that were filed against the government’s decision of allowing the Indian vegetables and fruits to enter Nepal without testing for pesticides.

The writ was filed by advocates Narayan Prasad Duwadi and Swagat Nepal on Tuesday. Likewise, Bishnu Timalsina of the Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights had also filed a petition on Wednesday against the government’s decision to allow fruits and vegetables without checking.

The government had stopped testing of the fruits and vegetables after India took an exception to it. It should be noted that the Embassy of India in Kathmandu in a letter to the government had expressed concern over the checking of pesticides. The government had, however, said it decided to allow the Indian fruits and vegetables into Nepal for the time being due to lack of infrastructure and preparation.

It should be noted that the government had earlier decided to allow Indian fruits and vegetables only after testing for pesticides from the third week of June.