SC Seeks Centre’s Response On ‘Cancellation Of 3 Cr Ration Cards’

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 17 March, sought the Centre’s response on a plea that alleges that three crore ration cards were cancelled due to non-linking with Aadhaar card, which led to denial of ration supply and, consequently starvation deaths.A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said the matter should not be treated as adversarial and listed it for hearing after four weeks, terming the matter as “too serious”, noted Bar and Bench.What Happened In Court?The apex court initially stated that the matter could be heard by respective high courts. The CJI, as quoted by PTI, said, “We see the problem at hand and I have dealt with this kind of matters in Bombay High Court and I think this matter should be filed before the high court concerned.”To this, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner, Koili Devi, was quoted by Bar and Bench as submitting: “More than three crore cards cancelled at the central level. In every state, 10 to 15 lakh cards are cancelled. There are situations where fingerprints or iris scanner does not work in tribal areas.”Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aman Lekhi opposed the plea, stating that the claim was misconceived, ‘all over the place’ and that this was a grievance redressal under the Food Security Act, added the report.He further stated that the Centre’s position has been clear that not having an Aadhar would not deny anyone of the right to food. To this, Gonsalves noted that the Centre’s position is on record on an alternate grievance redressal and not on the main plea, which is the issue of cancellation of three crore ration cards and deaths caused by starvation, noted PTI.To this, the top court sided with Gonsalves, noting that the matter was ‘too serious’ and must be addressed without any adversity.Aadhar not mandatory for second installment of PM-KISANThe CaseThe ‘Koili Devi vs Union of India’ case had the petitioner, mother of 11-year-old Santoshi Kumari, who died from starvation on 28 September 2017 after her family was unable to access ration after being struck off the welfare scheme roll for not linking their ration card to their Aadhaar card.Koili Devi’s other daughter, Gudiya Devi, is a joint petitioner in the case. The family belongs to Simdega district in Jharkhand. The petition alleged that the family stopped getting ration supply from March 2017 and it suffered from starvation. On the day that Santoshi passed away, she could be fed only some tea with salt because there was no food in the house, reported PTI.Jharkhand Family Claims Child Died of Starvation, Govt Disagrees Centre Denied Aadhaar Link To StarvationThe Supreme Court on 9 December 2019 had sought a response from all states within four weeks on the steps taken to implement grievance redressal mechanisms under the National Food Security Act, 2013, which would support those who have been deprived of ration for not having valid Aadhaar cards, added the report.The Centre had responded earlier that no one was denied food because of lack of a valid Aadhaar card.(With inputs from Bar and Bench and PTI)Did Aadhaar Glitches Cause Half of 14 Jharkhand Starvation Deaths?

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SC Seeks Centre’s Response On ‘Cancellation Of 3 Cr Ration Cards’

The petition said an 11-year-old died due to starvation after being denied supplies for no Aadhaar-ration card link

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Topics: Law Law and justice Starvation Deaths