New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday said it will ban Endosulfan if it was satisfied that the pesticide was harmful to human health.

 
 The apex court bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Panickar Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar said this after Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told the court that the central government had appointed two committees of experts to look into all aspects of Endosulfan usage.
 
 The matter will come up for hearing Friday.
 
 Subramanium, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the case, said that even though prima facie it appeared that the pesticide was harmful, there was no conclusive report on its effects.
 
 Subramanium told the court that the requirements of the farmers too have to be taken into account as they will have to provided with alternative pesticides if Endosulfan is banned.
 
 The court said that besides the ban, other issues included in the petition by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) would be considered after it receives the reports of the expert committees. DYFI is the youth wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
 
 Subramanium said the committees will submit their reports in three months, but if the court so desired, they could be asked to complete their work in two months.
 
 Appearing for some manufacturers of Endosulfan, senior counsel Soli Sorabjee told the court that no ban could be imposed on the pesticide without hearing the manufacturers' arguments.
 
 At this, the court included the manufacturers as party to the case.
 
 The central government had issued a notification in 1996 banning the use of Endosulfan in Kerala. This order was not challenged by anyone.
 
 DYFI has moved the apex court seeking ban on the production, sale and use of Endosulfan, which is widely used in Indian agriculture.
 
 State governments too have been asked to submit their responses.
 
 Activists say the pesticide causes various health problems, including physical deformities, mental retardation, skin cancer and epilepsy.