Disposed

M/S New Rice Mill v. Fci and Ors.

Punjab & Haryana HC20 May 2022CWP/705/2022

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Petitioner rice mill approached High Court under Article 226/227 seeking Mandamus to direct FCI to accept custom milled rice within policy schedule due to lack of storage space. Court appointed FCI to provide specific stacking schedule via special trains to ensure 100% delivery by 30.06.2022.

What did the court decide?

Directed FCI to allot stacks to petitioner mill after specific special trains to ensure complete delivery by June 30, 2022.

M/S New Rice Mill Vs Fci and Ors. — Service and Employment | Punjab & Haryana HC (2022)

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CWP No.705 of 2022 (O&M)

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IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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CWP No.705 of 2022 (O&M) Date of Decision.20.05.2022

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M/s New Rice Mills Barnala

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...Petitioner

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Food Corporation of India and others

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...Respondents

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CORAM:HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE JAISHREE THAKUR

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Present: Mr. Ajay Kumar Kansal, Advocate Mr. Pankaj Garg, Advocate Mr. Shadab Ahmad, Advocate for the petitioner.

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Ms. Deepali Puri, Addl. A.G., Punjab. Ms. Anju Arora, Addl. A.G., Punjab with Dr. Abhinav Trikha, Director, Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Punjab.

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Mr. K.K. Gupta, Advocate for UOI/FCI.

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Mr. Ranjit Singh Kalra, Advocate for respondent No.6.

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Mr. Vishal Mehta, Advocate for Mr. Mehardeep Singh, Advocate for respondent No.7.

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JAISHREE THAKUR J. (ORAL)

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The petitioner herein has approached this Court by way of filing the instant writ petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India seeking a writ in the nature of Mandamus, directing the respondents to comply with the Clauses of the Punjab Custom Milling of Paddy Policy (2021-2022).

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Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner herein would contend that the petitioner-rice mill is one of the larger mill in the

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PANKAJ KUMAR 2022.05.25 09:36 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document

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CWP No.705 of 2022 (O&M)

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State of Punjab and is primarily engaged in custom milling rice. Paddy is allotted to it by the Director, Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, which in turn is milled by the petitioner into custom milled rice as per the specification provided and it is to be delivered into the central pool of the Food Corporation of India. The custom milled rice is to be delivered as per the schedule specified in the policy and in the instant case, custom milled rice was to be delivered upto 31.03.2022. The trouble arose when the petitioner, who was successful in milling its rice wanted to deliver the same, however, it was not accepted by FCI on the ground of lack of space within the centre where the petitioner was to deliver such rice. Since the terms and conditions of the policy were stringent and the petitioner would have to face various penalties and even would face the penalty of being declared a defaulter in case it was unable to deliver custom milled rice within the schedule, it has approached this Court seeking direction to be issued to FCI to accept custom milled rice in terms of the policy.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner would argue that once the rice is ready for delivery, the same ought to be accepted by FCI because there is every chance of loss of moisture, breakage and discolouration of the rice lying in its own warehouses on account of passage of time.

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In pursuance to notice of motion order issued, appearance has been caused on behalf of FCI, State of Punjab as well as respondents No.6PUNSUP & respondent No.7-Markfed, being the procurement agencies. Union of India has been impleaded as well and is represented by Mr. K.K. Gupta, Advocate.

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One of the issues that arose during the course of hearing is that FCI has limited space and has to deal with storage of custom milled rice as

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PANKAJ KUMAR 2022.05.25 09:36 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document

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CWP No.705 of 2022 (O&M)

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delivered by 64 millers, who are attached to Barnala-II Centre where the petitioner has to deliver its rice. It is submitted that apart from the petitioner wanting to deliver rice expeditiously, there are other millers as well, who have already approached this Court seeking equal distribution of space and the matter is still sub judice . It is submitted that the petitioner herein has got a release order from the Tarn Taran Centre and therefore, the petitioner had to deliver the custom milled rice as released from Tarn Taran to Tarn Taran itself and therefore, it could not ask for any additional space within the Barnala-II Centre. It is further submitted that in order to accommodate 64 millers, the roster point is being followed by FCI in accepting custom milled rice from all the millers.

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Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent-State would submit that after the release order is issued, the question of space is the prerogative of the FCI, which has to accept the rice. The limited role of the State is to frame a policy, which it has done for the current year and thereafter, to allocate paddy to various millers in terms of their milling capacity and to monitor the milling process.

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During the course of hearing, this Court was troubled by the question as to why a miller should be put to any loss, in case it was able to mill the paddy allotted to it well within its stipulated period and was ready to deliver the custom milled rice. It could surely not be the intention that the miller should be put to any loss on account of lack of storage of rice, which stands milled and if it was able to deliver within the specified time, why should FCI not be able to accept it? This Court then requested Dr. Abhinav Trikha, Director, Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Punjab to be present in Court to explain the entire process involved in

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PANKAJ KUMAR 2022.05.25 09:36 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document

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CWP No.705 of 2022 (O&M)

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allocation of paddy, receipt of custom milled rice and the inherent problems evolved in the storage or shifting of the said custom milled rice. It would transpire that there is lack of storage in all the godowns of FCI, even though it has the capacity to hire additional space. FCI stores the custom milled rice as per the supply made to it by various millers. There is no mixing of the custom milled rice as supplied by each of the millers and this practice is to ensure that the quality of rice supplied by each miller could be identified, if found substandard. It also transpires that the FCI is still stocking custom milled rice of the previous year, which has not been liquidated as on date. It is only when special trains are allotted, that space will be created by demand raised by other States.

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Despite these problems, this Court did ask Dr. Tirkha to look into this issue as allocation of space was a major issue, specially for the petitioner herein, who has repeatedly requested that his rice was ready for delivery and he was going to be subjected to loss and penalties in case FCI does not accept the same.

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Proceedings of the meeting convened on 18.05.2022 are placed on record. A reading of the minutes of the meeting would reveal as to how the case of the petitioner has been taken into consideration by keeping in view his requirements and that the space is most likely to be created on account of rice being sent to different parts of the State/country. A new schedule has been set up in the meeting held, giving stacks on different dates to the petitioner herein. The Specials to be allocated are as under:-

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“ May 2022 : Tentatively, 3 Specials are likely to be loaded from Barnala II till May 31, 2022. Accordingly, after every Special, petitioner mill will be allotted stack as follows:-

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PANKAJ KUMAR 2022.05.25 09:36 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document

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CWP No.705 of 2022 (O&M)

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a) One stack after Special dated May 19/20, 2022.

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b) Two stacks each after Specials dated May 24/25, 2022 & May 29/30, 2022.

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June 2022: In June, 2022 six Specials are likely to be loaded from Barnala II, in order to ensure 100% delivery of CMR by 30-06-2022, which is the last date fixed by Government of India. Accordingly, after every Special, petitioner mill will be allotted stacks as following:

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a) Two stacks each after first two Specials of the month of June, 2022.

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b) Three stacks each after third and fourth Special of the month of June, 2022.”

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With this schedule, the petitioner would be able to complete his delivery by 30.06.2022 without disturbing the schedule of other millers. A copy of the minutes of meeting held on 18.05.2022 is taken on record and marked as Annexure-A. A copy of the same has also been supplied to the counsel appearing for the petitioner-mill, who is in agreement that the petitioner will adhere to the schedule as specified therein. Therefore, the necessary relief as sought by the petitioner seems to be satisfied and no further orders are called for in the instant writ petition. In case, the petitioner has any grievance at a later stage, it would always be at liberty to approach the authorities concerned for redressal of its grievance. It appears that FCI is permitted to accept rice till 30.06.2022 and it would be expected of the petitioner-miller herein to deliver rice within the stipulated period.

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Learned counsel appearing for the FCI would submit that as per additional affidavit dated 07.04.2022 furnished by Vivek Kumar

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PANKAJ KUMAR 2022.05.25 09:36

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I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document

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CWP No.705 of 2022 (O&M)

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Chaurasiya, Divisional Manager, Food Corporation of India, Divisional Office, Sangrur, FCI is already in the process of identifying other areas so that similar problems do not arise in the future. It is again expected that FCI would make all endeavours to lease more space to mitigate the shortage of space.

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Before this Court parts with this Court, it would like to record its appreciation for the time and effort of Dr. Abhinav Trikha, Director, Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Punjab, who was kind enough to accede to the request of Court to be present in person and make every possible endeavour to resolve the issue.

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The writ petition stands disposed of in above terms.

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(JAISHREE THAKUR) JUDGE May 20, 2022 Pankaj* Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether reportable Yes/No

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PANKAJ KUMAR 2022.05.25 09:36 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document

M/S New Rice Mill v. Fci and Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

M/S New Rice Mill v. Fci and Ors.

Case brief

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What did the court decide?

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