SC to hear sugarcane transportation issue tomorrow

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a petition challenging the Allahabad High Court's decision that allowed Bajaj Hindustan Ltd to deduct transportation cost of Rs 10.58 per quintal per km from the cane prices payable to the cane growers.
The decision allegedly would lead to nil amount to be paid to cane growers and would also result in recovery after adjusting state advisory price. The matter is likely to come up for hearing on Friday before a bench headed by Justice Altamas Kabir.
The petition filed by cane growers, who supply cane to Bajaj, have challenged the High Court's April 21 decision that held that the sugar mill was entitled to deduct Rs 10.58 per quintal per km for transportation of sugarcane from the price payable to the cane growers for delivery of sugarcane at the purchase centres.
"The said fixing of the transportation charges is in contravention of the rebate of Rs 5.83 per quintal permissible only under specified conditions under Clause 3A of the Sugarcane Control Order 1966," they said.
Stating that the High Court had decided the issue without hearing the affected cane growers, the petition said that Bajaj had in the last five years set up 14 such mills and was "undoubtedly the biggest defaulter of cane dues."
According to the petitioners, the mill had deliberately not only concealed that the maximum transport rebate permissible as per the clause was Rs 5.83 per quintal and also that the rebate should be allowed only to those sugar mills which had made cane price payment in time and cleared all the arrears with interest.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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