The Bombay High Court has dismissed a set of petitions challenging the Maharashtra government’s agricultural procurement scheme, calling them “totally baseless” and imposing a cost of ₹1 lakh on the petitioners for filing what it termed as meritless litigation.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne passed the order on July 22, with the detailed judgment made available on Friday. The court upheld the legality of a Government Resolution (GR) dated March 12, 2024, which outlines the procurement and distribution of key agricultural inputs under a special state plan to boost crop productivity and value chain development.
The GR concerns the procurement of five items—battery-operated sprayers, nano urea, nano DAP, metaldehyde pesticide, and cotton storage bags—targeted at improving yields of cotton, soybean, and other oilseeds.
The petitions included a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an association of sprayer manufacturers, who alleged that the new scheme bypasses the earlier December 2016 GR, which facilitated farm subsidies through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The petitioners argued that the new method favoured large contractors and state-run procurement agencies, depriving farmers of the opportunity to buy inputs at competitive local market rates.
However, the bench found the petitioners had “no locus standi” and had “erroneously mixed up” the two GRs, noting that the March 2024 resolution operated in a different and independent sphere with broader policy objectives.
“The petitioners, in an attempt to protect private interests, cannot be permitted to obstruct a scheme formulated in public interest for the benefit of farmers,” the court held.
The Maharashtra government, represented by senior advocate V R Dhond, defended the move as part of a wider initiative to enhance agricultural productivity and value chain efficiency, rather than a simple procurement policy.
Rejecting the petitioners’ claims of inflated prices and exclusion of DBT benefits, the court said it found no fault in the tender process carried out by state agencies such as the Maharashtra Agro Industries Development Corporation Limited and the Maharashtra State Powerloom Corporation Limited.
In a strong rebuke, the bench concluded that such litigation only hampers implementation of farmer-centric programs. “For this reason also, while dismissing the petitions, we are inclined to impose costs (₹1 lakh) on the petitioners,” the order stated.
