Kochi, Sept 22 - A court in India on Friday lifted a regional ban on Coca-Cola and PepsiCo drinks, which had been imposed after an environmental group said they contained unsafe levels of pesticides.
The ban on the production and sale of the drinks was imposed by the communist rulers of the southern state of Kerala in August.
The two firms had told the court in a petition that the ban was unconstitutional and their products were safe to consume.
But lawyers for the Kerala government had argued the ban was justified to protect consumers.
Coca-Cola welcomed the judgement.
"We are gratified that High Court of Kerala has set aside the illegal orders of the Government of Kerala," the company said in a statement. "We will immediately take necessary steps to make Coca-Cola available across the state of Kerala."
The controversy erupted when the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said its tests showed that samples of drinks of both companies across the country had dangerously high levels of pesticides.
Besides Kerala's complete ban, six other states have imposed partial bans on Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products by prohibiting sales at or near schools, colleges and hospitals.
At around $1.29 billion, annual sales of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products in India account for only a miniscule part of their global business but the CSE report and state bans have cut into local sales and hurt their reputation among many consumers.