Centre moves SC against doorstep delivery of ration

New Delhi: The Central government has now moved a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court of India, challenging a Delhi High Court, on the basis of which the Delhi government is proceeding to implement its flagship doorstep delivery of ration scheme.

While the Union government and the AAP government in Delhi have been at loggerheads over the implementation of the scheme since its announcement, the controversy was put to bed when a bench of the Delhi High Court in September this year allowed the administration to divert ration from fair price shops for the delivery scheme as long as the dealers were informed of the beneficiaries who had opted for doorstep delivery.

Even as L-G Anil Baijal kept blocking the doorstep delivery scheme, the September Delhi High Court judgment emboldened the Delhi government to go ahead and make arrangements for the implementation of the scheme.

But this High Court judgment has now been challenged by the Union government in the Supreme Court - before a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna. However, Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre and Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the Delhi government both sought an adjournment, following which the case has now been listed for November 12.

The Delhi High Court bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh, had while clearing the doorstep delivery scheme's implementation, had said, "The GNCTD shall first issue communications to each of the fair price shop holders, informing them of the particulars of the ration card holders, who have opted to receive their rations at their door steps and, only thereafter, the rations, to the extent that they are being supplied to such optees, need not be supplied to the fair price shop

holders."

The Delhi government had first announced the scheme, following which the Centre had first objected to the name of the scheme, which included Mukhya Mantri in it. While the Delhi government had soon agreed to change the name of the scheme, the L-G had blocked it based on a complaint made by an association of ration dealers known as Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers Sangh, which was the same party that challenged the scheme in the HC, in which the ruling favoured the implementation of the scheme.

Significantly, the Delhi government had told the Delhi High Court bench that nearly 70 lakh of the total around 72 lakh PDS beneficiaries in the city had opted for doorstep delivery, a submission that the court had considered.