JUDGMENT
Balasubramanyan, C.J.
1. This writ petition is admitted, notice taken for the Union of India — opposite party No. 1 by the learned Standing Counsel (Central), for opposite party Nos. 2, 3 , 8 and 9 by the learned Additional Government Advocate assisting the learned Advocate General, and for opposite party Nos. 4 to 7 by Mr. S.K. Nayak (1). The petitioners to serve additional copies of the writ petition on the respective counsel.
2. This writ petition was heard along with O.J.C. No. 17037 of 2001 which projected the same problem in wider canvass and which relates to procurement of paddy and/ or rice from agriculturalists in the entire State of Orissa. This present writ petition subsequently filed by the farmers of Balangir district relates to procurement of paddy and/or in Balangir district. O.J.C. No, 17037 of 2001 was heard after the pleadings were completed and the judgment is to be delivered therein. But meanwhile, considering the submission that this year the farmers of Balangir district have had reasonably good harvest compared to the previous disastrous years and that they need immediate protection in the matter of sale of their harvested paddy, this interim judgment is being rendered in this writ petition, notwithstanding the fact that* the opposite parties are yet to file their counter-affidavits, and we are granting them time of one. month for filing such counter-affidavits. We believe that the problems if any that may arise out of our interim judgment or the advantages that might be gained by implementing this interim judgment, can also be projected in the counter affidavits to be filed so that this Court can judge the impact, the efficacy and the usefulness of the interim judgment that is now being rendered.
3. To help the farmers to sell their paddy economically, the Union Government has fixed a floor-price or a Minimum Support Price. The paddy has to be purchased at that price. It is a support price. Food Corporation of India has come into existence under the Food Corporations Act, 1964 and under Section 13. of that Act, it shall be the primary duty of the Corporation to undertake the purchase, storage, movement, transport, distribution and sale of food-grains, and other foodstuffs. The Corporation is also expected to promote, by such mens as it thinks fit, the production of food-grains and other foodstuffs. But procurement of food-grains would necessarily involve the ensuring of the Minimum Support Price to the growers in view of the policy of the Government, The admitted pleadings in O.J.C. No. 17037 of 2001 which we have heard in detail along with this writ petition which came up only for admission, clearly indicate that the farmers of Orissa a good percentage of them being illiterate, are an exploited lot. The State, Government in conjunction with the Food Corporation of India authorised the private mill owners of procure paddy from the cultivators and then deliver rice to the Food Corporation of India hulled out of the paddy so procured. For procuring paddy, the Minimum Support Price was fixed by the Central Government and the miller are expected to procure paddy from the farmers only at that price or above but certainly not below that price. The complaint in O.J.C. No. 17037 of 2001 and in this writ petition is that this arrangement has led to the mill owners supplying rice to the Food Corporation of India not procured out of the paddy hulled after procurement of the freshly harvested paddy but from quantities of rice diverted from the rice distributed under various relief programmers undertaken by the State in the wake of the natural calamities faced by the State and the fall in production of paddy. After thus .improperly meeting their quota obligations, the Millers compelled the farmers to sell the paddy at prices below the Minimum Support price. The Conditions were so manipulated by the Millers with the support of unscrupulous officers Of the State Government and of the. Food Corporation of India that the farmers were forced to sell their paddy in distress and at a price below the Minimum Support Price thus defeating the entire scheme evolved to help the farmers. In Other words, the Millers in connivance with the officers of the Civil Supplies Department of the State and the Food Corporation of India satisfied their quota requirements by diverting rice intended for distribution under various alleviation schemes and selling that rice in discharge of their obligation to supply rice to the Food Corporation of India and by not procuring the paddy from the cultivators by paying them the Minimum Support Price. That is a fact which is clear from the pleadings and some steps have been taken by the State Government to meet the situation arising out of the scandal.
4. It is in this situation that the earlier writ petition, O.J.C. No. 17037 of 2001 was filed claiming various reliefs, one among which is the issue of a writ of mandamus to the State Government, and to the Food Corporation of India to compel them to directly procure paddy from the cultivators at the Minimum Support Price fixed by the Central Government, thus eliminating the millers so as to put an end to the exploitation of the farmers. This writ petition is filed in that context and during the hearing of the earlier writ petition. It is by the farmers of the Balangir district submitting that they have had a reasonably good harvest and they are apprehending that there would be no proper procurement of their paddy at the Minimum Support Price this time also and that they will be exploited by the millers and they will be forced to sell their paddy a price below the Minimum Support Price fixed by the Central Government and that this Court should come to their succour and ensure them the Minimum Support Price.
5. Learned counsel for the Food Corporation of India submitted that the Food Corporation of India does not have adequate facilities in the State of Orissa for procuring or storing the paddy or rice and it was in that context that the help of millers was sought, for procuring paddy from the farmers, to mill the same, to store it till it is distributed at the direction of the Food Corporation of India and/or the State Government. Learned counsel also submitted that the policy of the Central Government had to be implemented by the Food Corporation of India and that policy was that the Food Corporation of India was not to take up direct procurement of paddy from the cultivators, since the Food Corporation of India had surfeit of stock of rice in their godowns. On behalf of Union of India what was submitted was that it was for the State Government to make arrangements for the procurement and to prevent exploitation of the farmers and the Union Government was only concerned with fixing the Minimum Support Price and it was a matter for the State Government to take the necessary action. The learned Advocate General appearing on behalf of the State Government submitted that the State Government also could not directly take up procurement of paddy in the circumstances obtaining in the State and it was in that context that the help of the millers was sought for and they were made the middlemen for procuring the paddy and converting the same into rice and then to supply it to the Civil Supplies Department of the State. But, the learned Advocate General submitted that the State had the duty to ensure that the cultivators got the Minimum Support Price and that they were not exploited.
6. The farmers of the district of Balangir are before us in this writ petition. It is not too large a district. The practical difficulties expressed by the State Government and the Food Corporation of India in procuring and storing can be tackled if there is a Will to tackle the same. Presumably it is the lack of Will on the part of the authorities of the Civil Supplies Department and/or the officers of the Food Corporation of India that had let to the scandal of the previous years. During the course of hearing, we had suggested to the Food Corporation of India, the Union of India and the State Government to consider whether, to alleviate the poverty stricken farmers of the State of Orissa, procurement should not be taken over by the State through the Food Corporation of India so as to eliminate the middlemen, who unfortunately have shown, more often than not, a tendency to exploit the generally gullible and illiterate farmers. There has been no positive answer forthcoming from the State and from the Food Corporation of India though the validity of the suggestion is acknowledged and it is in that context that we have reserved our judgment in O.J.C. No. 17037 of 2001 to consider the various aspects arising out of the situation obtaining. In this case we feel that we have got an opportunity to see whether the scheme of direct procurement from the farmers on the basis of the Minimum Support Price by the Food Corporation of India and the Civil Supplies Department of the State Government, cannot be implemented, and if it is implemented, what, if any are the problems that may arise for the State Government and the Food Corporation of India and whether they could be tackled meaningfully. As we have noted, the district of Balangir is not an unwiedly, district, especially considering that the original district of Balangir had been divided into two. We think that it would be just and proper in the circumstances, especially in the context of the obligation of the State and that of the Food Corporation of India under Section 13 of the Food Corporations Act, to direct the State, the Civil Supplies Department of the State and the Food Corporation of India to directly procure paddy from the farmers of Balangir district during this season at the Minimum Support Price now in vogue (we are told that the harvest has been completed by the month of February). This will enable the Court to know what if any are the real difficulties faced by the Civil Supplies Department of the State and the Food Corporation of India in the matter of procuring paddy directly from the farmers. After all, the Civil Supplies Department and the Food Corporation of India together or either of them, can get the paddy milled through any of the mills on paying the usual milling charges. This would ensure that the farmers get the Minimum Support Price for the paddy they have produced and that they are not exploited by any one from outside the State agency and the Food Corporation of India entrusted with the authority of procurement. This will also preclude or at least discourage the diversion of rice supplied to the State under various alleviation programmes by the Central Government and eliminate the prospect of the mills supplying the diverted rice to the Food Corporation of India in place of the rice hulled from paddy procured from the farmers after the current harvest. If this is implemented, we feel that the Food Corporation of India will also be in a position to inform the Court as to what exactly were the problems that it faced (as opposed to what it apprehends It may be facing) while implementing our direction. Since the object of the whole exercise is to ensure that the policy of the Central Government to ensure a fair return to the farmers is fulfilled, a direction of this nature is warranted and justified and a direction should be issued to the Civil Supplies Department of the State and the Food Corporation of India to make the procurement direct in concert and to report to this Court the practical aspects of implementing this direction.
7. Thus, we are inclined to direct the Government of Orissa, its Civil Supplies Department, the Union of India and the Food Corporation of India, and all its officers in the State and outside, to enter into direct procurement of paddy from the farmers of Balengir district during the current season on paying the Minimum Support Price directly to the farmers. It will be open to the Union Government, if the situation warrants, in consultation with the State Government, to modify or vary the Minimum Support Price for paddy to be procured from the State and also to fix a price for paddy which according to them, does not conform to the minimum quality as envisaged by them. Since according to the Food Corporation of India, the rice made out of this paddy as far as possible is to be distributed in the State of Orissa itself, we feel that the objection to quality sought to be raised on behalf of the Food Corporation of India, cannot be of much significance. Any way, as we have stated, it is only a direction to do something as an experimental measure in respect of a district in the State so as to get at the result of the experiment so as to enable the Court to effectively give the necessary directions regarding the State as a whole to ensure that the farmers get a fair deal and a proper price for their produce as envisaged by the Union Government when it fixed the Minimum Support Price. The elimination of the middlemen from the scene appears to be warranted in the light of the pleadings and facts disclosed In O.J.C. No. 17037 of 2001 and the arguments made before us during the course of hearing,
8. We, therefore, as an interim measure direct the State of Orissa, its Civil Supplies Department, the Union of India, the Food Corporation of India and Its officials to procure in concert the paddy from the farmers of Balangir district at the Minimum Support Price as fixed by the Central Government and deal with that paddy as per the directions of the Central Government and the State Government and as per the policy of those Government. We make it clear that we are not in any other manner interfering with the arrangement between the Food Corporation of India and the State of Orissa regarding the manner of procurement, the meeting of the expenditure and so on. In other words, the only direction which modifies the existing arrangement is the direction not to use the millers for procuring paddy from the farmers at the Minimum Support Price, but to procure it direct from the farmers on paying the Minimum Support Price. The procurement will be started by the Food Corporation of India and the State Government without any delay to prevent the farmers from having the resort to distress sale especially taking note of the fact that the previous two years have not been good for the farmers. It will be open to the State Government and the Food Corporation of India to seek further directions from this Court regarding implementation of this interim judgment if it is found necessary. As we have noted, the further developments could also be brought to the notice of this Court so as to enable this Court to take a proper decision finally in writ petition.
