The Union government has informed the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday that it has directed the State government to revoke licenses granted to private companies that allow them to collect, process, and commercialize human breast milk.
This decision came in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by Munegowda, who expressed concern over multinational corporations profiting from the collection and sale of breast milk.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Arvind Kamath, representing the Union government, told the bench—comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind that the Ministry of Ayush had recently instructed Karnataka’s government to rescind such licenses.
Following these directives, the State government has canceled several of these licenses.
Kamath explained, “The central government has mandated the State to cancel all such licenses. Some companies had initially received these licenses under Ayurvedic regulations, which permitted the commercial use of human breast milk.
However, the Centre has now intervened, and at least one company has already had its license revoked and has subsequently challenged this cancellation in the High Court.”
The petitioner’s advocate, B. Visveswaraiah, presented packaged breast milk products—a 50 ml bottle priced at Rs 1,239 and a 10-gram packet of powdered breast milk priced at Rs.313—to demonstrate the commercial aspect of this practice.
Kamath noted that these licenses were issued under Ayurvedic and naturopathy provisions but reiterated the recent government directive for their cancellation.
In response to a request to include the Union Ministry of Ayush as a respondent in the case, the High Court directed the petitioner to amend the petition accordingly and issued a notice.
Further proceedings in this matter are scheduled for December 4.
