Supreme Court seeks response from Central govt, 11 States on plea seeking directions for payment of dues to sugarcane producers

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought reply from Central government, eleven States and three sugar production companies on a plea seeking directions for payment of pending dues to sugarcane producers..A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant was hearing a plea by a former Member of Parliament from Hatkanangle constituency, Raju Anna Sheti and four agriculturists from Maharashtra..The plea sought directions to frame a strict mechanism by which price of sugarcane produce is paid to cane farmers as per law in order to avoid accumulation of such dues and to protect cane farmers when a sugar mill is declared sick.Such a step, the petitioners contended, will help sugarcane producers if dues remain unpaid during the process of resolution or liquidation of the sugar mills/factories. Absence of such a mechanism, the petitioners said resulting in deteriorating financial condition of cane farmers, is violative of their fundamental rights enshrined in articles 14, 19 and 21 of the constitution..Senior Advocate Anand Grover, arguing for the petitioner, submitted that though there was an order by the Allahabad High Court on this issue in 2014, "there is a need for a pan India order" in this case with dues of producers accumulating across India. .States of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Gujarat, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been arraigned as respondents in the case apart from the Centre and a couple of sugarcane production companies. .The plea relying on 2012 Rangarajan Committee Report said that regulation of sugar industry, abolition of the quantitative controls on export and import of sugar, removal of outright bans on sugar exports, review of distance norms of 15 km between two sugar mills, removal of restrictions on sale of by-products was recommended..The plea filed through Advocate Krishan Kumar, stated that in the 2019-20 sugar season, governments provided Rs 6,268 crore subsidy to sugar mills/factories for export of 6 million tonnes of sugar. However, in the 2020-21 season, sugar cane growers supplied cane worth Rs. 14,000 crores to the sugar mills but have only received Rs. 4,448 crores towards cane payment..The plea, therefore, urged the apex court to direct the governments to release some ad hoc payments to the sugarcane growers against their outstanding dues..The petition sought direction to the Centre and State governments to file affidavits setting out the details of the amounts due, the amounts paid and arrears by the sugar mills to the sugarcane grower or their cooperatives for sale of their cane along with interest thereon at 15% on year-wise from 2018 to 2020..The plea also requested Union of India and States to place on record the details of actions taken by them against sugar mills/factories for non-payment of dues and arrears along with interest.