Indian spirits manufacturer Som challenges license withdrawal in child labor case

By Jatindra Dash and Arpan Chaturvedi

BHUBANESWAR (Reuters) – Indian spirits maker Som Group has asked a state court to overturn a government decision to temporarily suspend the manufacturing licenses of one of its distilleries after a federal agency uncovered 59 children doing illegal labor at the distillery, a court filing showed.

Police investigating the som distillery in Raisen district of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh closed the site after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights discovered 39 boys and 20 girls working at the factory this month.

The agency also released photos of children’s hands showing burns from contact with chemicals and said some of the children were brought to the factory on school buses.

In a 169-page court filing before the Supreme Court of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Som argued that the licenses were wrongly suspended because investigations into the child labor allegations were still ongoing.

“There is no conclusion as to whether children were actually employed or not,” Som Distilleries Pvt Ltd said in a court document that is not public but was seen by Reuters.

Som did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the Madhya Pradesh state government. The case was heard on Thursday, but no decision was taken.

In its previous statement, Som Distilleries and Breweries Ltd had stated that the incident was related to a facility operated by a partner company that employed workers from contractors who may not have carried out proper age checks.

The company’s share price has fallen 9.3 percent since the human rights agency visited the distillery on June 15.

(Reporting by Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar, Arpan Chaturvedi and Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Paul Simao)