Two widows of Indian farm workers et al v. Syngenta Reference : No description Complaint date : September 18, 2020 Status : Not judged Place of jurisdiction : Switzerland, Basel Plaintiffs types : Farm/rural workers Plaintiffs names : Two widows of Indian farm workers and an Indian farm worker Defendants : Syngenta Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice : Law firm Schadensanwälte Case nature : Civil court Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) : , Diafenthiuron, Polo Requests : Compensation from Syngenta for the harm suffered Name of the Court : Civil Court of Basel, Switzerland Jurisdiction level : Summary : Two widows of Indian farm workers blame Syngenta for the death of their husbands, as well as an Indian farmer for his illness, after the insecticide Polo was sprayed on their fields in the region of Yavatmal. This is the first product liability lawsuit of this kind. They claim that Syngenta has used a product which is defective under the Swiss Product Liability Act, in particular because Syngenta knew that agricultural workers in India usually do not read the instructions on the package and therefore could not use the pesticide correctly. In these cases, it was possible to file a claim in Switzerland since the pesticide or the relevant ingredient, respectively, was distributed from Switzerland by a Swiss company. In October 2020, Switzerland decided to prohibit the export of five highly hazardous pesticides including diafenthiuron (active ingredient of Polo). On July 28, 2022, the Swiss Civil Court in Basel handling three civil actions by one Indian farmer and two wives of deceased Indian farmers has ruled that the court has jurisdiction in the case and granted legal aid to all three plaintiffs to pursue their case in Switzerland against agrochemical company Syngenta. It also ruled to treat the three cases separately and not to join them as different evidentiary questions might arise in each claim. Scientific references : No scientifice reference for this case. Related links : Dangerous Pesticides: Indian Victims file a Civil Claim in Switzerland Indische Opfer klagen in Basel gegen Syngenta (Indian victims file suit against Syngenta in Basel) GER Poisoning survivors and advocates demand Syngenta to acknowledge liability of its pesticide Polo Yavatmal pesticides poisonings. Swiss judicial system takes victims' complaints seriously