In April 2001, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL, Rajasthan) submitted a writ petition to the Supreme Court of India seeking enforcement of the right to food. The basic argument is that the right to food is an implication of the fundamental “right to life” enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. This public interest litigation (PIL) is known as “PUCL vs Union of India & Others, Writ Petition (Civil) 196 of 2001”.

In an interim order dated 8 May 2002, the Supreme Court appointed “Commissioners” for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of the Court’s orders. The Commissioners are empowered to enquire about any violations of these orders and to demand redressal, with the full authority of the Supreme Court. They also report to the Court from time to time, and may seek interventions going beyond existing orders if required. In an order dated 29 October 2002, the Court clarified that “the scope of the work of the Commissioners appointed by this Court is to include the monitoring of the implementation of this Court's orders as well as the monitoring and reporting to this Court of the implementation by the respondents of the various welfare measures and schemes.”

The two Commissioners who were initially appointed were Dr. N.C. Saxena and Mr. S.R. Sankaran. Subsequent to Mr. Sankaran resigning from the position, Mr. Harsh Mander has been assisting the Commissioner as a Special Commissioner.

The Office of the Commissioners is based in New Delhi. It is supported by funds provided by the Government of India at the request of the Supreme Court. Apart from the secretariat, the work of the Commissioners is supported by state-level ‘Advisers’. The central and state governments are also expected to extend assistance to the Commissioners through ‘Nodal Officers’ and ‘Assistants to the Commissioners’ appointed by them.

This site is maintained by the Office of the Commissioners. It has been designed primarily to facilitate easy flow of information between the Commissioners and various citizens’ organisations that liaise with them. The site contains a rich set of information including reports submitted by the Commissioners to the Court, other reports, details of a wide range of issues where the Commissioners’ intervention has been sought, status of implementation of various food-related schemes, realities from the field, correspondence with Union and State governments, etc.