High Court clears sale of state-owned sugar mills

The petitioners had urged the court to declare the Act as ultra vires to the Constitution of India. The court turned down the petitioners’ request to declare that the state government has no jurisdiction or authority to sell off the units of the UP State Sugar Corporation,which controls the mills in the public sector.

Additional advocate general Jaydeep Mathur,assisted by chief standing counsel M C Chaturvedi,had contended in the court that the state government had the power under the constitutional provisions to frame the laws in respect of the sale of or transfer of any of its assets or liabilities in public interest. The Mayawati government,soon after coming to power in May 2007,had decided to privatise 33 loss-making sugar mills of the UP State sugar corporation.

For facilitating the disinvestment,the UP Sugar Undertakings (Acquisition) Act 1971 was amended in 2009 to arm the government with the powers for offloading its stakes in the corporation.

The Act was brought in 1971 for acquiring loss-making sugar mills in the private sector. As many as 33 mills were acquired by the government in early seventies. Presently,11 mills of the corporation are on the offer,while the rest will be taken up later.

High Court for statutory body to settle disputes relating to cane farmers
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday directed the state government to consider creation of a statutory body to adjudicate disputes with regard to payment of cane prices to farmers and their cooperative societies within a specific period. Passing the order on two writ petitions filed by the sugar mills of Ghaziabad,the Lucknow Bench of the Court observed that the government must take appropriate steps to ensure monitoring of sugar mills regarding payment of cane prices in accordance with rules within a reasonable period.- PTI