‘Duare Ration Scheme’ of West Bengal govt ultra vires to NFSA, legally void : Calcutta HC

A division bench of Justices Chitta Ranjan Dash and Aniruddha Roy held that the Duare Ration scheme is “ultra vires of the National Food Security (NFS) Act, 2013” and “is, therefore, a nullity in the eye of the law.” It added that the scheme has “no legal validity.”

“The state has transgressed the limit of delegation by obliging the fair price shop dealers to distribute ration to the beneficiaries at their doorstep in the absence of any authority to that effect in the enabling act, i.e, the National Food Security Act,” the division bench observed.

It said only if the NFS Act is amended by the Union Legislature for doorstep delivery of foodgrains to beneficiaries or invests any such power to the state government, can such a scheme be made by the state and be said to be in sync with the NFS Act.

The scheme was introduced by the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in November, last year, after the party’s victory in the Assembly polls earlier that year. The scheme is aimed at facilitating delivery of foodgrains under public distribution system at the doorsteps of beneficiaries.

However, fair price dealers moved court and pointed out that it would be difficult to implement the scheme. The Calcutta High Court, however, dismissed the case. Later, a section of ration dealers filed a fresh case before a division bench.

As per officials in the food department, the government is thinking of approaching the SC challenging Wednesday’s order. — With PTI inputs