Greeva Garg –
Published on August 04, 2021, at 5:46 PM
The Supreme Court of India has issued notice to the Central Government and the State Government to response to the plea seeking the status of payment for pending dues to the sugarcane farmers of Rs. 18,000 crores accumulated till date.
Notices are issued to various State Governments including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, where sugarcane grows.
The Bench comprising of the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant has directed the Central Government and the State Governments to respond to the matter before the next hearing of the matter, which will be held after 3 weeks.
The petition was filed by a former Member of Parliament from the Hatkanangle constituency in Lok Sabha Raju Anna Sheti and four agriculturists from Maharashtra.
The plea sought a mechanism by which the price of sugarcane production is paid to cane farmers as per law to avoid the accumulation of such dues.
The plea also urged for setting up of a mechanism to make the payment on time, in order to avoid the accumulation of dues and save the farmers from the vicious cycle when a sugar mill is declared sick and their dues of sugarcane produce remain unpaid during the process of resolution or liquidation of sugar mills
The plea stated, “Inefficiency in payments lead to the deteriorating financial condition of cane farmers, violating their fundamental rights enshrined under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.”
The petition stated, “Due to deteriorating conditions of sugar mills, their inability to pay cane dues and the acts of omission and commission on part of the respondent State governments land the Central government and the concerned authorities, the Petitioners are constrained to approach this Court to seek directions against the respondents, who have failed to comply with their statutory obligations to pay the dues of poor farmers as per the timelines stipulated under Sugar (Control) Order, 1966.”
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