Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday, in an order, said that the 'Duare Ration' (doorstep ration) scheme of the state government was illegal. The division bench of Justices Aniruddha Roy and Chittaranjan Shaw, while passing the order, said scheme was 'ultra vires' (implemented without requisite authority) in relation to the National Food Security Act, 2013.
The hearing came after an appeal was filed by dealers of Fair Price Shops, who had opposed the earlier order of a single judge bench of Justice Krishna Rao where the latter had observed that there was no illegality in the scheme.
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The plea by ration dealers was originally filed in August, 2021, opposing the proposed scheme. They had noted the scheme to be going against law. Standing with the petitioners, the bench on Wednesday ruled that 'Duare Ration' was a "nullity in the eyes of law".
"The State Government has transgressed the limit of delegation by obliging the Fair Price Shop dealers to distribute the rations to the beneficiaries at their doorstep in absence of any authority to that effect in the enabling act, i.e, the National Food Security Act." it further observed.
Reacting to the development, petitioner Sheikh Abdul Majed said, "The Duare ration scheme is against the Central Food Security Act. The state government was running this project by force. Sometimes they were running Duare Ration by threatening the dealers and fining them. Today the court declared the project illegal". (with Agency inputs)
