China court refuses to accept tainted milk class lawsuit

The 63 defendants in the first-known group lawsuit stemming from the scandal, including the parents of two children who died, were seeking nearly 14 million yuan (US$2 million) in compensation from state-owned Sanlu Group Co., Beijing-based lawyer Xu Zhiyong said.

The dairy based in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang was at the center of China’s worst food safety crisis in years, in which six babies are believed to have died and nearly 300,000 became sick with urinary problems after drinking infant formula tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.

Three of six defense lawyers presented the suit to the Hebei Supreme Court’s registry office on Monday but were told it could not be accepted because government departments were still investigating.

“We think it was their excuse for not accepting the case. We will continue to push the case and give them pressure,” said activist lawyer Li Fangping, who helped organize the case.

The court in Hebei, the province where Sanlu is based, took the documents, lawyers said.

“We presented our documents and we expressed our concern. We will keep contacting them to see what’s the progress,” attorney Lan Zhixue said.

China’s Health Ministry acknowledged last week that six babies likely died, twice the previous figure, and 294,000 babies suffered urinary problems from drinking contaminated infant formula, a six-fold increase from its last tally in September.

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