The state government received a major boost after the Bombay high court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the scheme of granting subsidy to distilleries using food grains for production of liquor (ethyl alcohol).
Observing that it will not be fair to interfere in government’s policy decision, a division bench of justice FI Rebello and justice JH Bhatia dismissed the PIL. The court will pass a detailed order in due course of time.
Many distilleries are owned by state politicians. When the PIL had come up for hearing for the first time in January, the court had stayed the disbursement of funds to these distilleries. Now, the government can go ahead with disbursement of funds of over Rs5,000 crore (Rs50 crore per distillery with 28 distilleries in all).
In its affidavit filed on February 17, 2010, the government had justified its decision, saying that providing subsidy to the distilleries manufacturing food grain-based wine is in the interest of farmers.
An affidavit, filed by Prakash Gaud, joint secretary (Home), stated that the decision taken by the government in 2005 was completely in public interest. Being a policy decision, the affidavit added, the judiciary does not have a jurisdiction to interfere in it.
According to the government, demand for alcohol — both for consuming as well as for industries — is increasing. So, encouraging food grain-based distilleries makes sense. “In the recent years,” the affidavit states, “there was a surge of 80% in the demand of industrial alcohol over the average consumption of 20-22 crore litres per annum. Combined expected future requirement for industrial and potable sector was projected at around 60 crore litres.”
Furthermore, the affidavit states that farmers who grow jowar would benefit from government’s policy, as price of the food grain would go up.
When the subsidy scheme for food grain-based distilleries was announced, it drew criticism from the opposition parties. It was alleged that this would create scarcity of food grains, and increase inflation.But the government affidavit stated that the policy would, in fact, help farmers who have no access to irrigation, and grow only rain-fed crops such as jowar.
According to a PIL filed by Bhimshakti Vichar Manch, an Aurangabad-based NGO and social activist Chetan Kamble, the government has so far sanctioned grants to 28 such units, many of them are owned by politicians and their relatives.
“Food grains being used to make alcohol can be used to feed the poor. Maharashtra is facing scarcity of essential food grains and is compelled to import from foreign countries,” argued petitioner’s lawyer Uday Warunjikar.
Defending the government, advocate general Ravi Kadam argued: “Except food scarcity, no other ground has been taken by the petitioners.”
The said subsidy scheme was floated by a Government Resolution in 2007, during Vilasrao Deshmukh’s tenure as chief minister to encourage farmers to grow food crops. But, according to Kamble, small farmers are not benefiting from the scheme. He said that when Deshmukh extended the scheme to Marathwada, the first project was given to his sons Amit and Dhiraj Deshmukh.
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