Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of PIL filed by Swami Agnivesh, Social Activist seeking implementation of government orders facilitating unhindered activities related to agriculture and farming.
The bench comprising of Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice B.R. Gavai noted the submissions made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that there is full monitoring and implementation of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare dated 28.03.2020 and it will be ensured that the concerned police authorities would also naturally follow these guidelines.
In view of the same, the Court directed the learned Solicitor General to communicate the same to the State Governments and the relevant authorities, to prevent such instances from taking place and disposed of the petition.
The Government of India on 28th March granted relaxation in the nationwide lockdown for activities related to agriculture and allied activities. The step was taken to ensure uninterrupted harvesting of crops. The Union Home Ministry had earlier issued second Addendum to the Guidelines related to the nationwide lockdown dated 24th & 25th March, 2020. Under this Addendum, activities related to Agriculture and related products and services were brought under the exception categories. Under the 2nd Addendum issued by the Union Home Ministry the following categories stand exempted from the lockdown:
- Agencies engaged in procurement of agriculture products, including MSP operations;
- ‘Mandis’ operated by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee or as notified by the State Government;
- Farming operations by farmers and farm workers in the field;
- ‘Custom Hiring Centres (CHC)’ related to farm machinery;
- Manufacturing and packaging units of fertilisers, pesticides and seed; &
- Intra and Inter-State movement of harvesting and sowing related machines like combined harvester and other agriculture/horticulture implements.
Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing on behalf of the Petitioner submitted that although the aforementioned activities stand exempted by the government, yet farmers and labourer in various parts of the country are being harassed and prevented from engaging in their daily agricultural routines by the police.