The Madras High Court has directed the Centre to look into apprehensions of certain risk factors that might be associated with the consumption of fortified rice supplied through the Public Distribution System (PDS), Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Midday Meal Scheme and other such welfare schemes.
The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad made it clear that two public interest litigation (PIL) petitions filed against the supply of fortified rice, without conducting a proper scientific study regarding the risk factors, should not be considered an adversarial litigation.
The judges granted time till June 19 for Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan to obtain instructions from the Centre on the contentions of Senior Counsel Rev. Fr. A. Xavier Arulraj, assisted by Rev. Sr. Arul Mary and advocate M. Radhakrishnan that a risk analysis must be conducted before supplying the fortified rice.
