HC sets up spl bench to hear Centre's plea on NAFED's revival

The Delhi High Court today ordered setting up of a special bench to hear Centre's plea seeking recall of a 2010 order that had asked it to bail out ailing NAFED by increasing government's shareholding up to 51 per cent in the society.
"We will constitute a bench that will have Justice Manmohan as one of the judges as he was part of the bench that had passed the order in question," a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw said.
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) is an apex organisation of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce and has been going through financial problems.

The court had on December 8, 2010 bound the Ministry of Agriculture to take various steps in pursuance of the report the G C Pati Committee on schemes to revive NAFED.
One of the steps envisaged in the report said the Centre would undertake financial restructuring of NAFED by increasing government shareholding to 51 per cent of total paid up equity and it was made clear that the remedial measures would be taken within eight weeks.
Now the Centre has moved the court seeking recall of the 2010 order saying "the petitioner cannot force the government for extending any undue financial support for the restructuring of NAFED which is against the provisions of the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002."

It also said as the government has no equity contribution in NAFED, it is not legally bound to bail out the society.

It was suggested in 2010 that the financial package in the form of government equity in NAFED be released immediately.
Earlier, the court had taken suo motu congnisance of large scale corruption in the running of NAFED that had led to non-realisation of Rs 1,600 crore, granted in tie-up arrangements.
Ordering setting up of a panel, the bench had said, "We express our anguish the way public fund has been siphoned and the amount disbursed in the name of tie-up investment without adequate security as if the public money in the hands of NAFED could be spent at the whim and fancy of the authorities who were at the helm of affairs...