The right to food is inherent in life with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution, and the State has a duty to ensure access to food and nutrition security for all individuals, including those with disabilities.

JUDGMENT :

1. From the submissions made, this Court is called upon to decide the following questions:-

(i) Whether a person inflicted with physical disability arising out of Leprosy can be denied his constitutional and statutory right to food?

(ii) Whether non-preparation of ration cards, more so by the vulnerable groups, as a ground for denial of ration can be countenanced under the provisions of the National Food Security Act, 2013?

2. The counsel on behalf of the petitioner has put forward before us the dilemma faced by individuals suffering from Leprosy in the State of Bihar. Counsel sets forth a staggering statistic- The State of Bihar has more than 11,000 cases. Leprosy patients result in a prevalence rate of 1.12 per 10,000 cases, accounting for 14% of total leprosy cases in the country.

3. During the incumbent Pandemic, individuals afflicted with Leprosy are particularly suffering because of their evident state of affairs. This mere fact testifies individuals suffering from the said curable disease were unable to avail the most basic amenities under the Public Distribution System (PDS) in districts of Bihar such as Patna, Darbhanga, Kishanganj, Chpara and East Champaran. The petitioner contends that the device intended to streamline the Public Distribution System has hindered access to food to some in the opposite effect. While some affected families opted for nominees within the family, the struggle continues for those who do not have a suitable member. In contrast, others are confused about nominating someone from within the family for various other reasons, including awareness and easy access.

4. Moreover, in many cases, nominees do not turn up when they need the ration, thus rendering the nutritional needs of the patients unfulfilled. Also, several people suffering from this disease are denied the ration as their finger-prints do not match. The petitioner has presented before this Hon'ble Court a list of names of individuals who cannot avail benefit under the PDS. Four persons in Patna, Twelve in Darbhanga, Eleven in Kishanganj, Thirteen in East Champaran and one in Chapra suffering from Leprosy who are not able to avail such benefits.

5. The Government contends that it is fully conscious of its responsibility and committed to issuing ration cards and making available food grain ration under the National Food Security Act, 2013 as well as "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna", submitting that since the beginning of the Pandemic, it has issued over 31,00,000 (approx.) new ration cards.

6. Objections were raised on the introduction of compulsory biometric authentication, which facilitates, amongst others, the following:- (I) Inter and Intra-State portability of Ration card; (II) Functioning of One Nation One Ration Card; (III) Complete prevention of leakage and pilferage of food grains; (IV) Empowerment of Targeted Public Distribution System consumers and liberation of these consumers from the shackles of unscrupulous PDS dealers.

7. However, on the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the State Government is implementing the Scheme of One Nation One Ration Card, recognizing the need of migrant families to get the food grains at the places where they work. This Scheme is implementable without making Aadhaar based biometric authentication on an electronic Point of Sales (e-PoS) device. To eliminate hardship, all e-PoS machines have an eye scanner that functions with 100% accuracy in the Aadhar-based identification of beneficiaries. During the last four months, on an average 7,39,993 ration card holders have availed food grains through the iris scanner.

8. That apart, by way of abundant caution, all beneficiaries suffering from Leprosy are allowed to nominate a government or semi-government official of the State for biometric authentication. It is submitted that the facility of nominees has worked very well, and till the filing of reply, 14,000 nominees (approx.) stood appointed. It is further submitted that the concerned