PLANT

Order-6, RULE-17, SECTION-26

PETITION NO……….OF 20……

….Plaintiff

Versus

………. Defendant

Plaintiff

To,

The Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India

And His Companion Justices of the Supreme Court of India.

The Special Leave Petition of

the Petitioner above named

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHEWETH:

1) The present Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India is being filed by the Petitioner
to enforce fundamental rights, particularly the Right to Life (Article 21) & Right to Equality (Article
14) guaranteed by the Constitution. The Petitioner is a public spirited individual.

ARRAY OF PARTIES

2) The Petitioner is the Citizen of India, working as a legal Consultant, with annual income of about
Rs. 5, 00,000/- per annum, R/o 201 Kalpataru CHS, 1 st floor, Plot No.30, Sector-14,Vashi, Navi
Mumbai - 400054. The email address of the Petitioner is [email protected] and mobile no.
+91-9004050651. A true copy of the PAN Card of the Petitioner bearing PAN No. XXXXXXX is
attached herewith and marked as Annexure P-1
3) The Petitioner does not have any personal interest or any persona gain or private motive or any
other oblique reason in filing this Writ Petitioner in Public Interest. The Petitioner has not been
involved in any other civil or criminal or revenue litigation, which could have legal nexus with the
issues involved in the present Petition.
4) The Respondent no. 1 is the Union of India, represented by Ministry of Home Affairs, which is the
the appropriate ministry dealing with safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens.
5) 5. The Respondent no. 2 is the State of Maharashtra, represented by its Chief Secretary, the
appropriate authority concerned with safeguarding the fundamental rights of its citizens.
6) The Petitioner espouses the cause of safeguarding the fundamental rights of the free primary
education and the State shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the
commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they
complete the age of fourteen years under Article 21A of the Constitution.
7) The Respondents referred to herein above are “State” within the meaning of Article 12 of the
Constitution.
8) That the concerned government authority was not moved for any relief sought in this Petition, since
the issue involved herein concerns to about state authority. Therefore, it was not feasible to move
the concerned state governments for an immediate and effective relief. Thus, this Hon’ble Court is
moved through this present Petition.

There are three major agricultural bills passed in Lok Sabha on 17 September 2020 and Rajya Sabha on
20 September 2020.

a) Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act

b) Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act

c) Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act

Below are the Key Features of new agricultural Acts:-

1. Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act:-

I. Free upmarket restriction and allow farmers to sell directly to private buyers:-

As per earlier law, Farmers have to sell their agricultural goods in the notified market. Markets in
agricultural products are regulated under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act
enacted by State Governments. Now as per new Act farmers can trade outside these markets without
any taxes.

This new bill provides farmers with multiple marketing channels and competitive alternative trading
channels to promote barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade of agriculture goods. It also enables
farmers to do the electronic trading online buying & selling of such produce through electronic devices
and the internet.

II. The state government can not levy any taxes:-

New Act prohibits state governments to levy any taxes for agricultural produce that was bought outside
the designated APMC mandi.

2. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill,
2020

I. Allows farmers to do contract farming:-.

II. Dispute settlement mechanism: -

It provides for a three-level dispute settlement mechanism. All disputes must be referred to
the conciliation board for resolution. If the Board is not able to resolve the dispute within 30 days. The
affected party may approach the Sub-divisional Magistrate for resolution. Parties will have a right to
appeal to an Appellate Authority against decisions of the Magistrate. Both the Magistrate and Appellate
Authority will be required to dispose of a dispute within thirty days from the receipt of the application.

3. Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.

I. The commodities that have been deregulated are food items:-

Agricultural commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onions and potatoes these can only be regulated
in the extraordinary circumstances like natural calamities, by imposing limits on the number of stocks of
such items that can be held by persons.

The Ordinance states that government regulation of stocks will be based on rising prices, and can only
be imposed if there is a 100% increase in retail price (in the case of horticultural produce) and a 50%
increase in retail price (in the case of non-perishable agricultural food items). These restrictions will not
apply to stocks of food held for public distribution in India.

Advantages and Disadvantages of agricultural bills passed by the Government:-

Advantages:

1) Free upmarket restriction and allow farmers to sell outside of the APMC market

Farmers can sell anywhere and produce as per their choice. The problem of middlemen is eliminated

2) Modernization and private investments in the agricultural industry

The reforms will accelerate agricultural growth through private sector investment in building agricultural
infrastructure and also attract big companies to directly deal with farmers. Farmers will get access to
technology and advice for high-value farming. Farmers will get a ready market for such products which
also can improve the infrastructure of the agricultural sector.

3) Farmers have been provided adequate protection against sales, lease, or mortgage of farmers’
land.

Disadvantage:-

1) Dispute settlement mechanism: - One of the biggest disadvantages of the change is dispute
settlement. Individual farmers do not have the resources as compared to private companies for taking
the dispute to the Board of Conciliation and farmers can not even think of going against big companies
and raise a dispute.

2) Agriculture Bill is silent on minimum support prices (MSP):- The government declares MSP has
been no law mandating their implementation. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare said
that while the Centre was committed to the MSP regime it was “not a part of the law” earlier and it is
not so now.

3) Risk of exploitation by big companies/businesses can control the Agriculture market; - There is
concern that big retail players and corporates could end up monopolizing farm trade and putting both
the farmers and the consumers at the risk of exploitation.

4) Removing the restrictions on the storage (hoarding or black-marketing); -

a)The government of India will list certain commodities are essential to regulate their supply and
prices only in cases of war, extraordinary price rises, or natural calamities. The commodities that have
been deregulated are food items, including cereals, pulses, potato, onion, edible oilseeds, and oils.

b)Lack of Price regulation by Government: - Government will do the price regulation only if 100%
increase in the retail price of horticultural produce and 50% increase in the retail price of non-perishable
agricultural food items.

Recommendation/Conclusion:-

The time and way the bills are passed created mistrust in farmers on government. Also, there are some
points such as MSP, Dispute redressals, price regulation, and restrictions on the storage, where the
government has to give clarification or modification in the bill required.

The government should not scrap these laws but If the government aim is to keep farmers safe and
promote farm production then It is the responsibility of the government to take the opinions of farmers
and make certain changes to Act.

For any suggestions with regards to the above-mentioned points then please write in the comment
section.