The Supreme Court was on Tuesday anguished at high malnourishment related deaths in the country even as the Centre said 50 lakh additionial tonnes of PDS grains would be distributed among below poverty level families by next two weeks.

A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma repeated its earlier stance that if godowns were overflowing or foodgrains are being destroyed on account of other reasons there was no reason why government should not distribute them at subsidised rates to the BPL and Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families.

"We are repeatedly requesting you. Please distribute it. You are procuring (foodgrains) at a huge cost. But the storage capacity will be inadequate to cope with the fresh harvest. That is happening every time when you have bumper crops."

Anybody who watches the TV will have the same view.

"There are said to be 3,000 malnourishment deaths in the country. It may not be 3000 but even if it is three deaths in a country like ours, it is a matter of grave concern," the bench said.

The apex court made the remarks after Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium informed the bench that the Centre had decided to distribute 50 lakh tonnes of additional foodgrains to BPL families.

"Why can't you give it to the poor on a subsidised rate," the bench asked the Solicitor after the petitioner PUCL (Peoples Union for Civil Liberties) complained that massive quantity of foodgrains were recently destroyed in Punjab.