The Supreme Court has held that any decision taken by the Government keeping the interest of farmers in sight will pass the judicial test as they are the marginalised section of the society.The court was hearing a petition challenging a policy framed by the Central Government on October 16, 2007 banning import of palm oil in Kerala came. The decision was challenged by Kerala-based manufacturers of refined and edible oils who depended on palm oil as a raw material for their product.
Having lost in the Kerala High Court, the manufacturers had questioned the reasoning of the Centre to ban the import of crude palm oil in one state when its import in other states was permissible. The Centre, on the other hand, argued that the decision was taken in the interest of 35 lakh coconut farmers in Kerala, whose livelihood was under threat as import of palm oil, which is cheaper compared to coconut oil, resulted in plummeting of price, which threatened to affect the marginalised farmers in Kerala, who survive on coconut farming on small land holdings.
The apex court had to decide whether the policy decision of the Government could be faulted on the ground that it failed to see the impact on remaining sections of society as against one class of citizens, i.e. the farmers.The Bench of justices AK Sikri and Rohington F Nariman said, “When a particular decision is taken in the interest of the said farmers which are marginalized section of the society, more so for their survival, this policy decision of the Central Government provides a complete rational in support of the decision having nexus with the objective sought to be achieved…the decision is not arbitrary or irrational and it is taken in public interest.”
The court was convinced by the exchange of communication between the Kerala Government and Central Government indicating how the decision was taken solely for the benefit of coconut farmers, considering that Kerala is the largest consumer of coconut oil. The coconut crop is spread over nine lakh hectares and contributes to nearly 35 percent of the agricultural income of the State.
An independent study conducted on the impact of Palm oil import on domestic coconut oil price revealed that the average price of coconut oil dropped from Rs6,155 per quintal in 2004-05 to Rs4,978 next year and further fell to Rs4,459 per quintal in 2006-07. This, after huge imports of 1.53 lakh tons of palm oil made since 2004-05. The court said it had to respect the decision of the Executive when the other option was to enhance import duty on palm oil, that would have had an all-India ramification. Knocking off the petitions, the bench was convinced that the decision of the Centre certainly “passed” the test of judicial review.