The Gauhati High Court sent notices to the concerned parties after hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) in the case pertaining to the presence of poisonous formalin in imported (chalani) fish in Assam.

A PIL was filed in the Gauhati High Court requesting a ban on the sale of imported fish containing formalin, hearing which the court notified the state government, the fishery department and food safety departments.

Moreover, the court also notified Nagaon College and asked it to file a report containing information about the matter. This comes after a finding by Nagaon College had first identified the presence of poisonous formalin in imported fishes.

It may be noted that consumption of fish containing formalin has been linked to development of cancer in people. The court has directed the concerned parties to file an affidavit before May 21 in connection with the matter.

Earlier, the fisheries department of Assam had asked four institutes in the state to conduct in-depth research and inquiry into the presence of formalin in imported fish.

This was directed by the Fisheries Minister Parimal Suklabaidya in light of the new development.

The four institutes were Zoology Department, Gauhati University, Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, ICAR, NER, Guwahati, College of Fisheries, Raha and College of Veterinary Sciences, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati.

The institutes had been asked to submit a report with the Director of Fisheries after research and multiple testing of various fish samples, an official statement read.

Earlier, the state fishery department had said it does not have adequate facilities to conduct preliminary testing to detect formalin in imported fish. For this reason, the said department had not yet conducted formalin testing on imported fish in Guwahati city, a source said.

In a press conference, a group of research students of the college said that they had collected samples from various local fish markets across the district and examined all the samples in all aspects at the local laboratory as well as the laboratory in Guwahati. During this, the research team got confirmation about the presence of that poisonous substance in fish available on the market.

Formalin is used as a disinfectant in industries, a preservative in some food products, funeral homes etc. It attains the state when formaldehyde is dissolved in water.