HC issues notice about wheat worth Rs 3.5 cr damaged in rain

A Division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala after hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on this issue today also issued a notice to Western Railway's (WR) divisional manager, Food Corporation of India's (FCI) director and the secretary, ministry of agriculture.

Ritesh Subhashbhai Koshti, a resident of Ahmedabad on the basis of media reports, filed the PIL through advocate Ashish B Desai, demanding prosecution of the concerned officers by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"On behalf of the FCI, the CWC had unloaded 24000 bags containing 3000 metric tones of wheat from Madhya Pradesh on August 10 at Vadodara railway yard under open sky," the petitioner alleged in the PIL.

"There was a heavy rain at Vadodara on August 12 because of which most of the wheat got wet at Vadodara Railway Yard, as the concerned authorities failed to shift the consignment to a godown on time," the PIL further alleged.

Apart from a criminal prosecution by CBI against responsible officials, the petitioner has sought a departmental inquiry and also requested the court to direct the responsible officers to personally compensate the total amount of loss suffered.

Further hearing on this PIL will be held on August 30.