PIL filed in SC against food security bill

An advocate on Saturday filed a PIL in Supreme Court asking it to quash an ordinance on food security issued by the UPA government ahead of the Monsoon session, describing it as “eyewash intended to siphon off public funds”.

Claiming that the move was also aimed to garner votes in 2014 general elections, advocate M L Sharma raised several questions including if Article 123 can be invoked without any emergency situation and if ordinance route can be used by the political party in power to further its election propaganda and manifesto.

He further pointed out that the decision would burden public exchequer with Rs 1.23 lakh crore. The ordinance, given assent by President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday would require government to procure estimated foodgrain of 612.3 lakh tonne, which would be distributed among, so far unidentified, about two-third of country’s 1.2 billion population at a highly subsidized rate of Rs 1 to 3 per kilogram.

Large scale procurement of foodgrain would lead to price rigging, while grains procured for public distribution system by the government has been rotting as was noticed by the apex court in 2010. The court had then directed the government to distribute it among the hungry, the petitioner pointed out.

He recalled that the apex court had asked the government to build big godowns at every district and division level, bring-in computerisation process to check pilferage, besides opening the fair price shop on all 30 days of the month.

The court had then recommended for distributing grains to the poor for free instead of letting them rot, but Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had then responded by saying “It's not possible to implement the Supreme Court’s order.”

In the first week of May, the government had already put said Food Security Bill 2013 in Parliament but could not get it passed due to opposition parties’ objections. But now, they had decided to implement it through ordinance with “mala fide intention”, Sharma said.

“The said food bill does not release foodgrain stored in government godowns but gives only a legal right to get food which already existed under Art 21. There is need of release, supply, distribution of food from godown and to remove corruption in existing systems in supply of food to the public,” he said. He urged the court to quash the ordinance on the grounds that it was “unconstitutional and malafide”.