BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court dismissed a public interest litigation filed by a city-based chartered accountant, a pregnant woman and doctor of law, challenging the Rs 2 hike in milk price by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
The division bench of Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind dismissed the petition filed by Dr Amrithalakshmi R, a resident of Bilekahalli in the city. The price of milk was increased on June 26. She questioned the hike on the grounds that there was no rationale and transparency behind it, and it is a burden on consumers as it is arbitrary and a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.
The court observed that determination of the price of products in any area, including milk and its products, is a pricing policy which cannot be a matter of consideration in public interest litigation. It is trite that the pricing policy is in the essentially policy domain, and judicial review cannot be exercised unless the decision shows it as palpably wrong.
The court also noted that the price to be fixed and determined for the product is to be guided by a host of considerations which are commercial in nature. The commercial wisdom of KMF in taking the decision to raise the price would not be considered by the high court in a public interest litigation. Pricing is an expert decision that depends on a variety of products. In this case, the KMF provided 50ml extra milk and raised the price by Rs 2. Be that as it may be, this court is not inclined to entertain the PIL, the court observed.