Sugarcane: HC quashes UP govt's waiver of Rs 2000 cr

In a jolt to the Uttar Pradesh government, the Allahabad High Court today quashed a cabinet decision of October whereby interest to the tune of Rs 2000 crore, payable by sugar mill owners to sugarcane farmers, was waived.
A division bench comprising justices V K Shukla and M C Tripathi passed the order on a petition filed by Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan through its convenor V M Singh.
The state cabinet had, vide an order dated October 03, 2016, waived the interest payable by mill owners on account of delayed payment to cane growers for the period 2012-14.
The Samajwadi Party government had said that the decision was taken in view of the fact that sugar industry was going through a bad phase and it was essential to ensure the mills did not stop running because of financial distress which would ultimately hit the farmers as well.

However, cane growers had strongly protested the state government's decision which had also drawn flak from leaders like Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait.
The court, while quashing the order passed by the state cabinet, made it clear that while the government had the power to effect waivers, "the decision making process in the present instance was not proper".