Verify 19 lakh cancelled ration cards: SC pulls up Telangana

NEW DELHI: Taking note that around 19 lakh PDS ration cards have been cancelled by the Telangana government "unilaterally", without granting an opportunity to card holders to present their case and rebuff the allegation of being fake, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the state to conduct a drive to verify the credentials of card holders whose names were removed from the system
As the state government contended that 19 lakh card holders were fake and that it was done to prevent siphoning off of benefits meant for the poor, a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai asked how the state can cancel the cards en mass without conducting field verification.
"How can you unilaterally come to the conclusion that they were bogus cards. You have to give them notice before cancelling the cards. We appreciate your anxiety that bogus card holders be removed from the system but genuine persons should not suffer," the bench.
The state, however, said the aggrieved persons can approach the authority and raise the issue if their cards were wrongly cancelled. But the bench was not convinced and said, "It amounts to convicting a person first and then holding trial."
It asked the state to review its decision of cancellation of cards by holding field verification and giving notices to persons whose cards were cancelled.
As the petitioner alleged that around 4.4 crore ration cards have been cancelled across the country, the bench said its order regarding Telangana would also be applicable to the entire country. The court said it cannot close its eyes like the high court, which refused to entertain the petition on the issue on the grounds of lockdown due to the pandemic. "You should not unnecessarily harass genuine people. You are dealing with people who take ration through PDS," the bench told the state counsel.