The court’s remarks came after state government pleader Nitin Deshpande admitted that it was at present not lifting the entire quota of grains allotted to it. Deshpande cited strikes by labourers at Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns and the low duration for which distribution centres were open as reasons for the same. He also said an order of the Nagpur Bench of the High Court, which put a stay on fresh tenders for transportation of stocks, was an impediment to increasing efficiency.

Unimpressed by these contentions, the division bench of Justice D D Sinha and Justice N M Jamdar said, “It is very unfortunate that the state government has failed to even lift the entire amount of foodgrains supplied to it by the central government. This frustrates the entire purpose of the exercise...There cannot be any excuse for lack of efficiency on this front.”

In a hearing of the case in November last year, the central government had told the court in an affidavit that it was supplying the entire requisite quota to Maharashtra. Responding to the affidavit, the court had asked the state to create a mechanism to ensure supervision of the food distribution system from Mantralaya in Mumbai. The court had also directed that the details of the entire process of the transfer of foodgrains as part of the public distribution system be put up on the state government website.