By IANS,
Lucknow : The sugarcane price war in Uttar Pradesh took yet another turn Monday when separate appeals were moved by sugar mill owners and the state government to the Supreme Court over the minimum price of sugarcane.
The Indian Sugar Mill Association filed a special leave petition (SLP) with the apex court, challenging an order of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court, which directed mill owners to pay Rs.125 per quintal to sugarcane growers.
The mill owners challenged this order earlier also and got an interim order from the Supreme Court, which approved a price of Rs.110 per quintal.
However, the Allahabad High Court Aug 18 gave a conflicting order bringing down the minimum sugarcane price to Rs.86 per quintal. This has created confusion in the prices as it is against the Supreme Court ruling.
An official spokesman said the government has moved the Supreme Court Monday, challenging the Aug 18 order.
With the Supreme Court agreeing to hear both the government’s and mill owners’ petitions Sep 8, both sides hope the confusion in sugarcane prices would be over soon.
“The conflicting orders of the court created much confusion as most of the farmers have already been paid by the cane growers Rs.110 per quintal,” said the spokesman.
Uttar Pradesh Ganna Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (Sugarcane Farmers Action Committee) convenor Pritam Singh told IANS over telephone from Meerut: “We hope the Supreme Court will resolve this problem as the second High Court order is absolutely illegal as it attempts to overrule the order of the apex court.”