Karnataka High Court dismisses PIL challenging Nandini milk price hike

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the Nandini milk price hike. A division bench comprising Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind said the court would not substitute the commercial wisdom in the area exercised by Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).

The petitioner R Amrithalakshmi, a Bengaluru-based chartered accountant, questioned the June 26, 2024 notification increasing the milk prices by Rs 2 across all variants.

The petition said the price hike is to be borne by the consumers who consume the lowest variant of the milk. It was also submitted that the price hike is against the commercial wisdom as well as it is in contrast to tenets of Article 14 of the constitution.

The bench said that the determination of prices or products, including the milk and milk products, and the pricing policy cannot be a matter of consideration in public interest litigation.

“It is trite that pricing policy is essentially in the policy domain and judicial review power could not be normally exercised in respect of such decisions unless the decision is shown to be palpably wrong or against any statutory prescription,” the bench said.

The court also said that the price determined for any product is to be guided by a host of considerations, which are commercial in nature. “The commercial wisdom of respondent 2 (KMF) in taking the decision to raise the price by Rs 2 for every product could not be a matter of consideration by this court in PIL. This court would not substitute the commercial wisdom in the area exercised by respondent 2,” the bench said.

The court further said, “Pricing is an expert decision and as stated above depends upon a variety of factors. In the present case, while increasing the rice by Rs 2, the federation has provided to give 50 ml of additional quantity of milk. Be that as it may. The court is not inclined to entertain the present PIL for the reasons stated above. Accordingly, the petition is dismissed.”