SC Reprimands Centre, States For Not Implementing Food Security Act In Its True Spirit, Issues Directions [Read Judgment]

It is more important that each State Government and Union Territory realizes and appreciates their statutory and constitutional obligations and ensures that the will of Parliament which enacted the National Food Security Act, 2013 is given full effect to in letter and spirit,

Government of India cannot plead helplessness in requiring State Governments to implement parliamentary laws, said the Court.

 Supreme Court of India on Friday reprimanded the Union Government and State Governments for not implementing the National Food Security Act properly.

A two Judge Bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and NV Ramana has also issued a set of directions for the effective implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 in a petition filed by Advocate Prashant Bhushan for Swaraj Abhiyan.

At the outset Justice Lokur has framed two questions as follows;

1. What can the Government of India do to require the State Governments and Union Territories to make functional those bodies and authorities that are mandated by a law passed by Parliament (such as the National Food Security Act, 2013)?


2. What remedy does a citizen of India have if the Government of India does not issue such a direction and the State Government or the Union Territory does not implement a law passed by Parliament?

Justice Lokur observed that the answer to the first question lies in the Article 256 of the Constitution of India which reads as follows;

“256. Obligation of States and the Union – The executive power of every State shall be so exercised as to ensure compliance with the laws made by Parliament and any existing laws which apply in that State, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose.”

The Court observed that the Government of India cannot plead helplessness in requiring State Governments to implement parliamentary laws.

The National Food Security Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament and received the assent of the President on 10th September, 2013.

“Almost four years have gone by but the authorities and bodies mandated to be set up under the National Food Security Act, 2013 have not yet been made functional in some States. This is despite the fact that Section 14 of the NFS Act requires that “Every State Government shall put in place an internal grievance redressal mechanism”.”

The Court observed that it had expected the concerned State Governments to implement the provisions of the NFS Act with all due seriousness since it is a social welfare legislation enacted by Parliament.

“Unfortunately, during the hearing we were informed by learned counsel for the petitioner that Section 15 and Section 16 of the NFS Act were not being complied with by the State Governments in letter and spirit”. It said.

Constitution Of State Food Commission:

Section 16 of the NFS Act mandates the State Government to constitute a State Food Commission for the purpose of monitoring and review of implementation of the NFS Act. But some of the State Governments had appointed the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission constituted under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as the State Food Commission under Section 16 of the NFS Act. The Court held that this was unsatisfactory and not in consonance with the provisions of the law particularly the letter and spirit of the NFS Act.

The Court suggested to the learned Attorney General to frame Model Rules under Section 16 of the NFS Act also for the reasons mentioned above.

 Advocate Prashant Bhushan submitted that it is unfortunate that even though the NFS Act has been in force for about four years, only a few of the State Governments before us had taken its provisions seriously.

Appointment of Food Commissioners or Ombudsman

Counsel for the petitioner insisted that the Court shall appoint Food Commissioners or Ombudsman who would oversee the functioning and implementation of the NFS Act since the State Governments before us and indeed other State Governments and Union Territories were not implementing the provisions of the NFS Act. But the Court was not inclined to appoint any Food Commissioner or Ombudsman to oversee the functioning and implementation of the NFS Act.

 “In our opinion, it is more important that each State Government and Union Territory realizes and appreciates their statutory and constitutional obligations and ensures that the will of Parliament which enacted the National Food Security Act, 2013 is given full effect to in letter and spirit. If the State Governments and Union Territories decide that they do not wish to abide by a law enacted by Parliament for the benefit of the people, perhaps some other solution may have to be found but we hope that no State Government or Union Territory disregards the will of Parliament”.

In a separate but concurring opinion Justice Ramana observed that one thing which stands out from a plain reading of the Act is that for its success it requires co-operation at three levels.

“It is to be noted that at every stage of decision making the Central Government has a very important role to play and has been envisaged as a check on the working of the State Governments. This Act elaborates on the nature of federalism as a functional arrangement for co-operative action. In order to ensure uniformity for enforcement of such an Act, consultation needs to be carried out between various State Governments, individually as well as collectively, with the Union for effective implementation of the Act”.

 The Court has issued the following direction;

1. The Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of the Government of India should convene one or more meetings on or before 31st August, 2017 of the concerned Secretaries of all the State Governments and Union Territories to take stock of the implementation of the NFS Act and brainstorm over finding ways and means to effectively implement the provisions of the NFS Act in letter and spirit. A law enacted by Parliament as a part of its social justice obligation must be given its due respect and must be implemented faithfully and sincerely and positively before the end of this year.


2. The Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of the Government of India should emphatically request and commend to every State Government and Union Territory to notify appropriate rules for a Grievance Redressal Mechanism under the provisions of the NFS Act and designate appropriate and independent officials as the District Grievance Redressal Officer within a fixed time frame and in any case within this year. Adequate publicity should be given to the appointment and designation of District Grievance Redressal Officers so that any aggrieved person can approach them without any fear and with the expectation that the grievance will be redressed.


3. The Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of the Government of India will emphatically request and commend to the State Governments and Union Territories to constitute, establish and make fully functional a State Food Commission under the provisions of the NFS Act before the end of the year. The NFS Act specifies a very large number of functions that a State Food Commission is required to perform - there is no dearth of work for the State Food Commission. Therefore the said Secretary should require the Chief Secretary to ensure that adequate arrangements are made by each State Government and Union Territory to provide adequate infrastructure, staff and other facilities for the meaningful functioning of the State Food Commission including preparation of annual reports required to be laid before the State Legislature. In our opinion, it would not be appropriate for reasons that we have already indicated to appoint another statutory commission or body to function as the State Food Commission unless it is absolutely necessary and completely unavoidable and only as a last resort.


4. The Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of the Government of India will emphatically commend and request every State Government and Union Territory to constitute and establish a functioning Vigilance Committee in terms of Section 29 of the NFS Act before the end of the year for the purposes of carrying out the duties and responsibilities mentioned in that Section.


5. The Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of the Government of India will ensure that the social audit machinery postulated by Section 28 of the NFS Act and which is already in place in so far as the MGNREGA Act is concerned is established at the earliest with appropriate modifications to enable every State Government and Union Territory so that a periodic social audit is conducted and the NFS Act is purposefully implemented for the benefit of the people.

 Read the Judgment Here