Nagaland: The Gauhati High Court Kohima Bench has ordered the Nagaland State defendants to produce an affidavit by February 27 to document whether the “Nagaland State Food Commission is presently functioning,” marking the second time in precisely one year that this directive has been issued.
In accordance with the directive from the Division Bench of Justice Devashis Baruah and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund, which resumed the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the Commission’s creation on February 21, the affidavit must also inform the court of the location from which the State Food Commission operates.
The Kohima Bench had earlier ordered the State respondents to provide a thorough affidavit demonstrating if the Nagaland State Food Commission is operating at full capacity by February 22, 2023.
The Chief Secretary, Commissioner, Secretary, and Director of the Department of Food and Civil Supplies (F&CS) are among the State responders.
The petitioners filed the PIL in 2022, arguing that the State Food Commission had not yet been established in contravention of Section 16 of the National Food Security Act of 2013 and the Nagaland Food Security Act of 2016. In addition, the petitioners requested that a social audit be conducted about the application of the aforementioned Act of 2013 from 2016 to the present.
After going over the documents, the Bench saw that arguments had been made in the last court hearing on the proper establishment of the State Food Commission. Following the directive of February 22, 2023, the State ,It said that the respondents filed the affidavit on July 27, 2023.
According to the Nagaland Food Security Rules, 2016, the affidavit said that the State Food Commission had been established with a chairman, a member secretary, and two members. Furthermore, positions for a stenographer and an LDA-cum-Computer Assistant had been established.
The Nagaland Additional Advocate General brought forward during the hearing a notice dated March 15, 2021, which said that the State Food Commission for the State of Nagaland was established by the Governor of Nagaland to oversee and evaluate the execution of the NFSA, 2013.
On the other hand, the petitioners’ attorney countered that the State Food Commission would only begin operations in November 2024, citing information from some newspapers.
The State the respondents’ attorney “stoutly” refuted this, but the judge ordered respondents to provide an affidavit by the 27th detailing where and what status of the Nagaland State Foods Union Commission, and it established a hearing date for February 28.
