[Doorstep Ration Delivery] What is the guarantee that it will curb corruption? Delhi High Court reserves judgment

The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its judgment in a petition challenging the Delhi government's policy for doorstep delivery of rations to beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System (PDS) [Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers Sangh v. Commissioner of Food and Supplies, Govt. of NCT of Delhi]..During the hearing, a Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh asked the Delhi government how its newly proposed scheme would be better at minimising corruption vis-a-vis distribution of food grains through fair price shops (FPS)."Why can't you implement the existing system? I am sorry, but you can't paint everyone with the same brush. You are brandishing the whole community of fair price shop (FPS) owners with the same brush. You are essentially trying to replace one set of persons with another," the Court said while reserving its final order in the matter..Appearing on behalf of the Delhi government, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi defended the doorstep delivery scheme, contending that the same would 'prevent leakages in the system.' He argued,"I know that there is no place in India where you can say that there is zero corruption, but we will have measures for biometric, iris scanning. Our affidavit also says that the leakages are something we want to prevent. The proportionality and the reasonableness of this must be looked at."To this the Court inquired, "Why can't the proposed safeguards like geo-positioning and biometric verification be introduced in the existing scheme?"On this, Advocate Asmita Singh on behalf of the Delhi government informed the Court that the safeguard of verification was introduced at fair price shops, however it was misused and thereafter legal action had been initiated."Let the law take its course. Whoever is found indulging in an irregularity can be proceeded against. Same thing can happen with the new tender or bidder also. They are also human beings of Indian origin sharing the same gene pool. What is the guarantee that this new set of individuals won't be corrupt? In fact, in the current system, the FPS are spread across the whole city. In your system, we will have a few contractors running the whole system. They will be more educated than the FPS owners so there will be even more scope to manipulate," the Bench said..Singhvi then argued,"There will be some leakage, but I am entitled to change the policy to an extent that the same is minimized. Law takes its own course, but is often slow and torturous. Yes, the contractor would get the tender but he will also be supervised by two state bodies. Moreover, there is no prohibition in the National Food Security Act (NFSA)."He added that the objective behind the scheme was to improve the delivery of ration..Advocate Visheshwar Shrivastav, appearing for the Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers Sangh, said that the Delhi government could not claim itself to be a State government as per Section 2 (22) of the NFSA."Reforms are to be done in consonance with the role of the state government. The same has been defined under Sections 24-29. Also, the Delhi government is bound by the guidelines issued by the Centre under Section 3(3) of the NFSA. As for the leakages in the system, there exist different checks and balances in the Act that prevent this like cancellation of the shop owner's license," he contended..The petitioner had submitted that the Delhi government's Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ration Yojana (MMGRY) Scheme was in violation of the GNCTD Act, Targeted PDS System Rules, as well as the NFSA and the Constitution. The Ration Dealers Sangh, in its petition, had thus prayed for the doorstep delivery scheme to be struck down."Direct the Food Corporation of India to strictly ensure that the foodgrains supplied by it under the PDS to the Govt. of NCT of Delhi are as per the standards fixed under the Food, Safety and Standards Act, 2006," the plea stated..The Central government had earlier told the Delhi High Court that fair price shops are integral to the Food Security Act, and that the handheld payment machines form an integral part of these shops. These machines, called Electronic Point-of-Sale (ePOS) devices, are synced with the Aadhaar database to ensure that the beneficiaries of schemes are the ones who receive its benefits.Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra also appeared for the Delhi government in the matter. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati and Advocate Gautam Narayan represented the Central government in this case..Doorstep Ration Delivery: Supreme Court rejects Centre's appeal against interim order on Delhi govt scheme