Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday temporarily halted the disbursement of Rs 107 crore under the Marginal Money Loan scheme until September 19, following a petition from a sugar cooperative that claimed it was unfairly excluded from the list of 17 mills recently approved for loans by the state, reports Times of India.
A division bench of Justices B P Colabawalla and F P Pooniwalla also sought a reply from the state by Sept 4 to a challenge to the July 23 decision of the chief minister Eknath Shinde-led council of ministers to approve Rs 2,265 crore loan guarantees for 17 sugar mills.
The petition was filed by Raosaheb Dada Pawar Ghodganga cooperative sugar factory, whose managing committee members are associated with the NCP (Sharad Pawar) faction. The mill argued that the state’s decision was “discriminatory” and violated the fundamental right to equality by favouring factories aligned with parties in the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
Earlier in the week, another division bench of the high court issued an interim order in favour of Rajgad sugar mill, which also contested its exclusion from the list of mills eligible for the Marginal Money Loan scheme.
Raosaheb Dada Pawar Ghodganga cooperative sugar factory’s petition challenges the state’s July 23 decision, arguing that it deserved Rs 107 crore in loans based on recommendations from technical and economic committees, which deemed the mill eligible in March.
