SC okays HC order to take back on demand

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court verdict that ordered the authorities concerned to take back the recently imported Brazilian wheat if any department or organisation wishes to return the grain, and not to force anyone to accept it.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed a petition filed by the government challenging the HC judgement.

The apex court came up with the order after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told it that the government would not proceed with the petition.

The government made the decision as nobody wanted to return the wheat to it, and the government did not compel any department or organisation to accept the grain following the HC order, he said.

Following the SC order, Mahbubey Alam told reporters that the government could now give the remaining wheat to any organisation if it was willing to take it.

A large amount of the wheat imported from Brazil has already been distributed, he claimed.

Following a writ petition, the HC delivered the verdict on July 8, three days after the Directorate General of Food submitted a report to the court, claiming that the Brazilian wheat was suitable for human consumption.

The HC in the judgement observed that test reports revealed the wheat was fit for human consumption, and a bulk of the import had already been consumed but there was no report of illness. The presence of insects in the wheat has not made it inedible, it said.

According to media reports, the Directorate General of Food early this year bought 2 lakh tonnes of substandard Brazilian wheat.

Sources said the food office had already distributed over 1.5 lakh tonnes under safety net schemes -- including Food for Work, Test Relief -- and as rations for the police force.