The Telangana High Court, on 24.08.2020, directed the Telangana government to take steps to ensure that agreements are made for farmers as per the Central government’s recent Ordinance on-farm agreements. The bench comprising Justice A Rajasheker Reddy and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy passed this order in the PIL filed by G Ranjith Kumar, the chairman of Nadigadda Rythu Hakkula Porata Samithi.
Prayer of the Petitioner
The petitioner prayed to the authorities for the poor cottonseed farmers. They were abused by the agents of various Seed companies in the Jogulamba district. The petitioner was seeking the direction to prevent cheating on them. He also prayed to prevent defrauding on them.
Submission of the Respondent
A Sanjeev Kumar is the special counsel of Telangana. He presented his arguments for the respondent. He told the court that the government, in principle, agreed to the demand raised in the present PIL. There is a need to have written agreements. In fact, three tripartite meetings were held on this issue in recent months. The meetings were chaired by the State Agriculture Minister. However, the process got delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. An Ordinance was brought in by the Centre in June. The counsel submitted that there was ambiguity. The ambiguity was as to whether the State law and rules would apply or not.
Observation of the Court
The bench consists of Justice A Rajasheker Reddy. Justice B Vijaysen Reddy was also a part of the bench.
The bench said that the Central Ordinance had given an option only to the farmers. However, the Central Government had not given the option to the companies.
The Direction of the Court
The bench added that the farmers might come forward to have agreements. Then the government must ensure its implementation. The hearing was adjourned by two weeks.
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