Madhya Pradesh High Court
Bhartiya Kisaan Sangh Thru. Ramdas ... vs Union Of India on 22 August, 2017
Author: Ved Prakash Sharma
Bench: Ved Prakash Sharma
W.P. No.3238/2017 1
HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH : BENCH AT INDORE
(DIVISION BENCH : HON. Mr. JUSTICE P.K. JAISWAL AND HON'BLE Mr.
JUSTICE VED PRAKASH SHARMA)
W.P. No.3238 of 2017
Bhartiya Kisaan Sangh & another. ... PETITIONER.
Vs.
Union of India and 11 others. ... RESPONDENTS.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Shri G.S. Chouhan, Advocate for the petitioner.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
ORDER
(Passed on August, 2017) Per Ved Prakash Sharma, J :
This petition styled as "Public Interest Litigation" has been filed by Bhartiya Kisaan Sangh, a registered organization, claiming to be functioning as non-Government organisation to protect the interests of farmers by uniting and organising them for the betterment of their financial, social, cultural and educational conditions. The petitioner prays for issuance of an appropriate writ, order or direction in the following terms :-
"(1) This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue any appropriate writ/order/direction to the respondent authorities including a writ of mandamus quashing the Notification no.189 dated 23.4.2016 along with Notification No.274 dated 4.7.2016 issued by respondent No.2 and 3 respectively and further passing any necessary orders/directions in that regard;
(2) This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue any appropriate writ/order/direction to the respondent authorities including a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to amend the notification's clauseII and mould the precondition of "compulsory" to "optional"W.P. No.3238/2017 2
for the loanee farmers as well."
2. The petition assails "Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana-2016" (for short, 'the scheme') which has been promulgated by Department of Agriculture, Co-operation of Farmers Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi. The scheme aims at supporting sustainable production in agriculture sector by way of providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events; stabilzing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming; encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices; ensuring flow of credit to the agricultural sector, which will contribute to food security, crop diversification and enhancing growth and competitiveness of agriculture sector besides protecting them from production risks. The scheme seeks to cover farmers growing notified crops in the notified areas. The scheme envisages two components viz, voluntary and compulsory. Under the 'voluntary component', any farmer falling in the notified area and involved in production of notified crop can opt for insurance coverage. The compulsory component applies to all those farmers who have availed seasonal agricultural operation loans from financial institutions for the notified crops. For the purpose of the scheme, these farmers have been designated as "loanee farmers". The scheme as a pre-condition for its implementation in a particular State requires issuance of notification by the State Government, which will imply acceptance of all the provisions, modalities and guidelines of the scheme by the State. Notification No.189 dated 23.4.2016 and Notification No.274 dated 4.7.2016 have been issued by the State Government (respondents No. 2 and W.P. No.3238/2017 3
3) for the state of Madhya Pradesh.
3. Under the scheme, banks are expected to separately calculate the eligibility of loan amount for a particular farmer with regard to crop of Kharif/Rabi season as the case may be, based on the Scale of Finance to be ascertained as per the scheme. The sum insured per hectare is supposed to be equal to the Scale of Finance as decided by the District Level Technical Committee and would be pre-declared by State Level Co-ordination Committee on crop insurance, while actuarial premium rate will be charged under the scheme by an implementing agency. The rates of insurance charges payable by farmers will be 2% of the sum insured or actuarial rate whichever is less in case of Kharif crop, 1.5% of the sum insured or actuarial rate whichever is less in case of Rabi crop, and 5% of the sum insured or actuarial rate whichever is less in case of annual commercial/annual horticultural crop. The premium amount payable under the scheme by the loanee farmers will be financed by the loan disbursing branch in addition to the loan amount.
4. It is contended on behalf of the petitioners that the notification issued by the State Government bringing into force the scheme is per-se arbitrary and suffers from ambiguities as it exceeds powers conferred on the respondents and is contrary to Article 21 of the Constitution of India and 'inner' aspects of right to life and right to privacy i.e. to make ones own choice. It is further submitted that pursuant to the directions issued by respondent No.4, Apex Bank, the premium amount for the loan shall be debited from the account of the farmers without any authority W.P. No.3238/2017 4 given by them, therefore, the scheme is contrary to Article 14 of the Constitution of India. It is also the contention that mandatory implementation of the scheme was never explained to the farmers nor its pros and cons were elaborated, therefore, the deduction of premium amount from the account of farmers amounts to an act of misappropriation and clearly demonstrates malafide and fraudulent colourable exercise of power by the respondents. It is submitted that the compulsory enforcement of the scheme against loanee farmers is clearly arbitrary, therefore, the notifications issued on 23.4.2016 and 4.7.2016 by the State Government are liable to be quashed by issuance of appropriate writ, order or direction.
5. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and perused the record.
6. The scheme seeks to achieve a laudable objective as in the recent past, there has been a number of incidents, wherein the farmers had to suffer huge losses and due to uncertainty in the climatic conditions like floods or draught, their crop was damaged. The de-stabilization created by such crop-loss has a cascading effect and creates hurdle in going for the next round of crop. Those farmers who have procured loan are more vulnerable in this process because on one side they have to repay the loan which they have borrowed from the financial institution and on the other side, they are supposed to again borrow loan for the next cycle of crop. An insurance scheme stipulating protection of the farmers from natural calamities like floods, draught etc. in such a situation is something very much desired on the part of a welfare State. We have gone through the detailed Operational Guidelines issued by W.P. No.3238/2017 5 the Government of India under the scheme and we are of the considered view that the scheme has been brought with a pious and welfare objective of providing financial support to the farmers suffering from crop loss/damage and stabilizing their income to ensure their continuance in farming.
7. The compulsory component of the scheme aims at protecting those farmers who have availed crop loan from the financial institutions. A perusal of the Operational Guidelines makes it clear that before bringing the scheme, inputs from the experts in the field have been obtained, therefore, it cannot be said that the scheme is either arbitrary or in any manner unreasonable. Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which provides that no one shall be deprived of life and liberty without following procedure established by law, of course is wide enough in its sweep and application, however, the significant features of the present scheme do not reveal that the same is violative of Article 21 of the Constitution. On the contrary, ex-facie it appears to be framed to help the farmers in their right to livelihood which is the part of right to life. Further, it cannot be said that the scheme incorporates any unreasonable classification into a loanee farmer and a non- loanee farmer. The classification supposedly based on logic is clear and understandable. Those farmers who have not availed loan, in case of loss of their crop, are not going to be called upon to make payment of loans to the banks or financial institutions. However, those who have availed loan facilities will have to repay the loan as well as to arrange for sowing of fresh seasonal crop. Faced with the dual responsibility, such a loanee farmer needs protection which will be forthcoming from the present scheme.
W.P. No.3238/2017 6What can be gathered from the salient features of the scheme is that, the scheme is a part of a welfare measure and stipulates a protection plan for loanee farmers, therefore, it cannot be said that the same is in any manner arbitrary, unreasonable, unjust or violates constitutional rights of the farmers.
8. In view of the aforesaid, we do not find any force in this petition, therefore, the same deserves to be and is hereby accordingly dismissed in limine.
( P.K. JAISWAL) (VED PRAKASH SHARMA)
JUDGE. JUDGE
Alok/-