Updated: September 28, 2020 7:20:35 pm
Farmers and activists shout anti-government slogans during a protest against agricultural bills in Bangalore, India on Monday (AP Photo / Aijaz Rahi).
As farmers’ organizations and regional and opposition parties continue to protest against the contentious new farm laws, a deputy from Kerala’s Congress presented before the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the constitutional validity of one of the laws.
TN Prathapan, the Lok Sabha MP from Thrissur, has alleged that the 2020 Farmers’ Agricultural Services and Price Guarantee Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) violates Article 14 (right to equality), 15 (prohibition of discrimination ) and 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution. He argued that the law, which was granted presidential assent on Sunday, is “liable to be annulled as unconstitutional, illegal and void.”
In the guilty plea filed through his attorney James P Thomas, Prathapan said: “Indian agriculture is characterized by fragmentation due to small holdings and has certain inherent weaknesses beyond control, such as dependence on weather, uncertainties in production and an unpredictable market. This makes agriculture risky and inefficient with respect to the management of inputs and outputs. “
The petition further said that the challenges faced by farmers, such as dependence on the weather, cannot be addressed by monetizing produce to increase their income, but by strengthening the Agricultural Products Market Committee (APMC) system by infusing more capital and effective management of the Minimum Support Price. .
“The number of farmers that the Center took on to calculate the cost of the PM-Kisan scheme comes from the 2015-16 Agricultural Census, which had calculated the number of operational agricultural holdings in the country at 14.5 million rupees. The matter is of substantial public interest and is emerging as there is a need to repeal laws that violate the rights of 14.5 crore citizens engaged in agriculture before serious financial harm is caused to them and their families. of those people, ”he said. .
A man shouts anti-government slogans during a protest against agricultural bills in Bangalore. (AP Photo / Aijaz Rahi)
The petition challenged the constitutionality of several sections of the farm law: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 18 and 19.
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According to the government, the new law is intended to provide a national framework for agricultural agreements in order to protect and empower farmers as they engage with agro-industrial and food processing companies, wholesalers, exporters and large retailers for agricultural services and sale of products at remunerative prices in a fair and transparent manner.
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On Sunday, President Kovind gave his consent to the Agricultural Products Trade and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Agricultural Price Guarantee and Services (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Farmers, 2020 and the Project Essential Products (Amendment) Act 2020.
Meanwhile, Punjab’s Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said his government would approach the high court on the issue. He also said that Pakistan’s spy agency ISI will use farmers unrest over new agricultural laws and try to foment trouble in the border state of Punjab.
Police officers wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus stand guard as protesters atop a truck shout slogans during a protest against a pair of controversial agriculture bills in Bangalore. (AP)
“I have said that we will move forward with this matter. The president approved these bills and now we will take this matter to the Supreme Court, “the PTI quoted the Punjab CM.
Singh also said that his government would take all possible measures to protect the interests of the agricultural community, adding that two defenders from Delhi would come on Tuesday and the matter would be discussed with them.
Various parts of the country, especially Punjab and Haryana, witnessed vociferous protests against the new central government agricultural laws with one of the BJP’s oldest allies and founding member of the NDA, Shiromani Akali Dal. resigning from the ruling coalition about the topic.
With PTI inputs
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