THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Aug 25: An Indian court rejected on Friday a plea by US soft drinks giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo to lift a ban in the southern state of Kerala on the sale of their beverages.

The two companies had asked the High Court to put the ban on hold until it delivered a final decision in the communist-ruled state.

The court denied the request for a temporary waiver of the ban imposed earlier this month and fixed Sept 11 as the date for a detailed hearing, a court official said.

State authorities slapped the ban on the sale and manufacture of the drinks after claims by a New Delhi-based environmental group that the products contained high levels of pesticides.

Local units of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo filed separate petitions in the court saying there was no scientific reason for the ban.

Kerala and another five of India’s 29 states have banned or restricted the sale of Coke and Pepsi after the pesticides claim was made earlier this month.

But a committee set up by India’s federal health ministry this week said the sampling methods used by the environmental group lacked a ‘scientific and statistically valid basis’.

The government said it was now conducting its own tests of pesticide residues in more than 200 samples of cola drinks to determine their safety.

Kerala’s health minister welcomed the court order.

“The court order doesn’t surprise me. We will implement the ban order meticulously. Our tests found that colas are injurious to health,” Health Minister P.K. Srimati said.—AFP