“Will Lead To Farmers Being At The Mercy Of Corporates”: Bharatiya Kisan Union Bhanu Moves Supreme Court Challenging Farm Laws

Bhartiya Kisan Union Bhanu has filed an Intervention Application before the Supreme Court in the plea filed by Tiruchi Siva, Member of Parliament (DMK), challenging the three Farm Acts that have sparked protests across the country.

Stating that as the Applicant, the Union through its President Bhanu Pratap Singh, received no response to the Representation duly served to the Respondents/States, they were constrained to file the instant Application.

The Application challenges the three new Farm Laws – The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

It has been averred that the Acts are “illegal and arbitrary, because these acts would pave way for cartelization and commercialization of the agricultural produces and if allowed to stand, we are going to completely ruin our country as the corporates can, with one stroke, export our agriculture produce without any regulation, and may even result in famines”.

The Application further states that the laws are unconstitutional as the lead to farmers being at the mercy of “corporate greed of multinational companies” and will end up dismantling the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) system intended to insure fair prices for farm products.

Further, the Application submits, the laws were passed hastily without any adequate discussion and their implementation in their current form would spell disaster for the farming community by giving way to a parallel unregulated market.

“That without APMC acting as a protective shield around the farmers, the market would ultimately fall to the corporate greed of multinational companies who are more profit oriented and have no care for the condition of the poverty-stricken farmers which are many time coming on the stage of starvation due to natural calamity (sic)”.

It has also been contended that due to illiteracy of many farmers, there would exist their inability to negotiate the best terms with a private company and may lead to an unequal bargaining position.

The Application also states that the Applicant seeks for the formation of a Farmers Commission, in which all the members should be kept as originally farmers, including the President of the Commission. Additionally, it would be only be the prerogative of this Commission to decide the prices of the crops of the farmers.

Siva’s petition, in which the IA has been filed, challenges the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Agriculture and Promotion) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.

The first mentioned Act seeks to enable the farmers to sell the farm products in places outside the market yards regulated by the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees(APMCS) established by various state laws. The second mentioned Act seeks to provide a legal framework for contract farming agreements. The third mentioned Act seeks to relax the food stock limits and the price control over food items like cereals, pulses, potatoes, onions, edible oilseeds, and oils under the Essential Commodities Act.