The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central government to file a comprehensive affidavit on whether the directions passed by the court in suo motu proceedings on granting ration cards to migrant workers & unskilled labourers and the subsequent passed orders have been complied with.
The Bench of Justice C.T. Ravikumar and Justice Sanjay Karol passed the order on a miscellaneous application.
The application was previously heard by a Bench including Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah.
Advocate Bhushan told the court that the Union Government was in contempt of the orders passed by the court in this case. However, the court interrupted, stating it was just a miscellaneous application, not a contempt petition.
The Advocate then apprised the Bench that for the last three years, the focus through the petitions has been on providing ration cards to migrant and unorganised labourers, who were registered in the e-Sharm portal of the Government of India, however, but they did not have ration cards.
He took the court through the June 2021 order and specifically referred to the directions in regard to the re-determination of the total number of persons to be covered under the rural and urban areas of the State under Section 9 of NSFA.
Section 9 said that 50 percent of the urban population and 75 percent of the rural population shall be given ration cards appropriately. Advocate Bhushan submitted that the Union of India has been saying that they have exhausted the 50 percent and 75 percent mark and therefore, could not issue any further ration card.
He said the Union of India did not say the census on the basis which they have determined 50 percent and 75 percent. If it was on the basis of the 2021 census, according to the Government of India’s own population survey, it was not a census, but a population survey done by the Government. According to that survey, there would have been 10.2 crore people eligible for ration card, added Bhushan.
The Bench then asked him to state the reason why the matter should not be closed since the pandemic has ended. The Court said it was not going to expand the scope of this petition.
Urging the court not to close the matter, Bhushan submitted that the court has also expanded the scope of this petition.
He said the court could not go against the orders. It would be a violation of judicial discipline. However, he later apologised for raising his voice.
The Bench asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati to submit within three weeks, the steps taken by the Union government against the claims made by Bhushan and if further steps need to be taken, pursuant to the orders passed after the June 2021 judgment.
ASG Bhati was directed to respond on whether the spirit of the orders had been complied with by the Union, States and Union Territories, considering the fact that the Apex Court could have disposed of the petition but the matter kept on going and the Court passed orders as well.
ASG Bhati contended that the government of India was currently complying with the aspect of providing ration cards to all people eligible under the NFSA Act.
The bench then directed the Central government to file an affidavit stating the steps taken and further needed to be taken to comply with the directions in the main judgment and subsequently passed orders by the Court.
Bhushan then apprised the Court that the Union of India had already filed an affidavit stating that they could not comply with the directions.
ASG Bhati submitted that the aspect of providing ration cards was dynamic because it was a continuous process of providing ration cards to those who were eligible and not extending benefits to those who subsequently became ineligible. The process has to keep going, she added.
The Court observed that the orders did not say that the process of providing ration cards has to be completed. However, an affidavit was required to see how far the directions have been complied.
Bhushan contended that the main judgment said the right to food was an aspect of Article 21 because people registered under the e-Shram portal were those earning less than Rs 10,000 a month. Therefore, irrespective of the limits of the Union, ration must be provided.
However, the Bench observed that it would decide on the matter after perusing the affidavit.
On May 26, 2020, the Apex Court took suo motu cognisance of the problems and miseries of migrant labourers during the lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The top court of the country has been issuing orders from time to time on the transportation of migrant labourers from their workplace to their native places and providing dry rations without insisting on an identity card as well as cooked meals to the stranded migrant workers.
On June 26, 2021, the Bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice MR Shah issued directions that the States and Union Territories must bring in place an appropriate scheme for the distribution of dry ration to migrant labourers and implement the One Nation OneRation Card scheme.
The issue raised by intervenors, including Advocate Prashant Bhushan, was regarding the non-supply of dry ration to a large section of migrant workers, who were not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, as well as those who did not possess ration cards.
The current ration scheme provides dry rations under the Centre and State schemes to those identified as beneficiaries under NFSA. A migrant labour covered under the NFSA and having a ration card under the Act, is entitled to access the dry ration wherever he is, at his workplace also, in accordance with the Central scheme – One Nation One Ration Card.