Recently, the Bar Council of Delhi wrote a letter to the Prime Minister primarily’ stating how the ‘Bar on Civil Court Jurisdiction’ will adversely affect the legal profession in the country. The letter furthermore highlighted that keeping the protection of rights of the farmers at the behest of bureaucracy was not a wise decision as it was not only a violation of the Principle of Separation of Power but was also widely inept as the bureaucracy has always been corrupt. The Act wrote Mr. Gupta, Sr. Adv. will erode the legal profession.
Post this, on 14th December 2020, the Bar Council of Delhi issued a press release wherein it raised objections against the farm laws while sympathizing with the farmers. The release stated that the legal fraternity was concerned with the laws and that the laws were made with undue haste. The role of the laws should be to benefit the farmer community. The release reiterated its earlier concern which was primarily related to the executive adjudicating the dispute which was against the Principle of Separation of Power. It furthermore stated that the judiciary, which is the third wing of a democracy should be given the right to adjudicate and the government must restore the rights of the farmers.
The press release raised concern over the inclusion of MSP in the Act and suggested procurement of produce private traders at 5% more than MSP and that too via RTGS. The penal clause should provide punishment for 3-5 years and confiscation of property of trader indulged in procuring at a lesser rate. It suggested opening more warehouses for farmers to store their produce. Further, all essential items like onion, potato, etc should not be excluded from the list of essential commodities. Disputes should be adjudicated by special courts headed by ADJ with nominal fees of Rs. 20. Proceedings should be completed within 3 weeks. The release stated that there should be compulsory insurance by govt of every crop. The subsidy on electricity should continue. Additionally, the payment should not be delayed by more than 15 days, mortgage of agricultural land should not be permitted and there shall be no delay in mandis beyond 24 hours. The release lastly talked about transparency in FCI godowns for procurement on a first come first serve basis directly from farmers and not from Mandis and also called for the formation of local farmers committee to overlook FCI godowns.
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