The Supreme Court on Tuesday reminded Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar that the apex court’s earlier order to distribute food grains to the poor instead of letting it rot, which the minister had taken to be a “suggestion” not binding on the government, was indeed an order, and not a suggestion.
Referring to media reports attributed to Mr Pawar wherein he said the Supreme Court had only made a suggestion, a bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma told additional solicitor general (ASG) Mohan Parasaran, “Tell your minister not to make any such comment. What we have said is an order and not a suggestion. Let him not misunderstand our order.”