New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation or PIL challenging the Congress government's flagship Food Security Act.
In a major boost for the proposed legislation, expected to be fiercely debated in the monsoon session of the Parliament beginning August 5, the top court said, "The Act is an instrument in ensuring the needy people get food subsided rates."
Petitioner M L Sharma had challenged the ordinance route the Centre had taken to bring in the legislation, saying such steps are only taken during an emergency.
Rejecting the petition, the top court said, "We had passed many orders on releasing the food grains for the poor. This act will help the needy. We can't go into the issue of political objective behind this."
The food security ordinance, which came into effect earlier this month, aims to provide cheap food grains to more than 82 crore poor Indians. The ordinance has to be ratified within six weeks of its tabling in Parliament.