Public health – Food and nutritional security – Alternate welfare schemes – Scope of judicial review in examining policy matters – Prayer of Petitioner to direct the States/UTs to implement the concept of Community Kitchens – Tenability – National Food Security Act, 2013 – Constitution of India – Art. 32. Held: There being a systematic legal framework provided under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) for the implementation of the schemes and programmes like Targeted Public Distribution System, Mid-day Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services and Maternity Cash Entitlement along with a Monitoring Mechanism and a Grievance Redressal Mechanism, and the States/UTs having also implemented various other schemes and programmes under the said Act, this Court does not propose to direct the States/UTs to implement the concept of Community Kitchens as prayed for by the petitioners in the instant petition – It is well settled that the scope of judicial review in examining the policy matters is very limited – The Courts do not and cannot examine the correctness, suitability or appropriateness of a policy, nor are the courts advisors to the executive on the matters of policy which the executive is entitled to formulate – The Courts cannot direct the States to implement a particular policy or scheme on the ground that a better, fairer or wiser alternative is available – Legality of the policy, and not the wisdom or soundness of the policy, would be the subject of judicial review – When the NFSA with a ‘right based approach’ for providing food and nutritional security, is in force and when other welfare schemes under the said Act have also been framed and implemented by the Union of India and the States, to ensure access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity, this Court does not propose to give any further direction in that regard. [Paras 7, 8 and 9]
Constitution of India – Arts. 21 and 47 – Right to Food – Discussed.
Held: Though the Constitution of India does not explicitly provide for Right to food, the fundamental Right to life enshrined in Art.21 of the Constitution does include Right to live with human dignity and right to food and other basic necessities – Art.47 of the Constitution also provides that the State shall regard the raising of level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties. [Para 5] National Food Security Act, 2013 – Object and purpose of the Act – Discussed.
Held: Keeping in view the goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger as one of the goals of United Nations, and keeping in view the constitutional guarantees for ensuring food security of the people as also for improving the nutritional status of the population, especially of women and children, the Parliament has enacted the National Food Security Act, 2013 – The object of the Act is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto – With the enactment of the NFSA there was a paradigm shift in the approach to food security from “welfare to rights based approach.” [Para 6]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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