HC lifts curbs on cane growers

aurangabad: the aurangabad bench of the bombay high court on tuesday ruled that non-member cane growers are free to supply sugarcane to factories of their choice. the bench, comprising justices v.k. barde and naresh patil ruled that there is no need for non-member cane growers to obtain permission from the sugar commissionerate and that they can enter into a contract with any sugar factory.the ruling assumes significance in view of the alarming drop in sugarcane cultivation this year and a sudden rise in the number of private sugar factories following the open permit policy. on the basis of the provisos in clause (3) of the maharashtra sugar factories (reservation of areas and regulation of crushing and sugar supply) order 1984, amended in 1997, following the supreme court decision on the sugarcane zoning in the state, the aurangabad bench categorically clarified that the cane growers who are not members of the co-operative society shall be free to supply cane to any factory of their choice. moreover, any factory out of the zone and any member can enter into an agreement, the bench said. the court also made it clear that the members of a sugar factory shall be bound to supply the quantity of sugarcane in proportion to the shares held by them. normally, each share of the factory is counted as one acre. "a member shall be bound to supply sugarcane to a co-operative factory in ratio of the shares held by him and the area under sugarcane as per the bye-laws of the factory. a member with excess cultivation is free to enter into an agreement with any sugar factory," the court ruled. the court also directed the police not to restrain the cane transported to factories. however, the police can file a case as per the civil laws, it said. kashinath tatyaba dongre of pategaon village in paithan block, in a writ petition, along with others, had said that he should be permited to supply sugarcane to the wradheshwar sugar factory as per the contract. the petitioners had submitted that as a non-member, mr dongre had entered into a contract with the wradheshwar factory on may 11, 2001. however, on november 1, 2001, the factory officials said that the sugarcane could not be lifted as the factory could not get permission from the sugar commissionerate.