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The Hindu newspaper reported that a nine-member panel of experts led by Additional Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar had been appointed by the Kerala state to assess the socio-economic damages caused by Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Limited at Plachimada village in Palakkad district. The panel included heads of state departments, legal experts and environmental activists. The panel has finalized its report advising the Kerala state government to penalize this multinational company up to Rs 200 Crore and take steps to realize that amount.

A similar panel has also been set up by the Tamil Nadu state government. 

The Hindu reported that:

The expert panel, comprising heads of various State departments, legal experts and environmental activists, was formed in September 2009 and was supposed to submit its report by December 31. It had held four public hearings, including one at the Perumatti panchayat within the jurisdiction of which the beverages unit was located, and visited the affected areas for an on-the-spot study of the damage allegedly caused by the Coca Cola unit.

Company resents panel

The company has not accepted the decision to form the expert panel and had even questioned its authority on the compensation issue.

In its communication to the State government, it had termed the formation of the panel highly presumptuous and expressed the fear that it would not get justice from the panel. In keeping with this position, it had refused to appear before the panel.

Sources in the know of things told The Hindu on Sunday that the panel was unanimous in its position that the Central and State governments had the full authority to extract damages from the cola company by going in for the formation of a tribunal through legislation on the lines of the Environmental Tribunal Act of 1995. Tamil Nadu has already put in place an Act and constituted an authority for payment of compensation for environmental damage to people and places caused by industries.

The Plachimada Struggle Solidarity Committee and the Adivasi Samrakshana Sanghom, which were in the forefront of the Plachimada struggle, have been campaigning for extraction of compensation from the company and had submitted a detailed memorandum to the panel seeking compensation.