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Maharashtra farmers moves Supreme Court challenging Article 31B of the Constitution

Team SoOLEGAL 20 Jun 2018 5:30pm

Maharashtra farmers moves Supreme Court challenging Article 31B of the Constitution

A group of farmers from Maharashtra has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the abolishment of Article 31B of the Indian Constitution.

The farmers of Kisaan Putra Andolan (KPA), a movement commenced in Maharashtra by farmers' activist Amar Habib, filed the petition in the top court on 21 March requesting abolition of the Constitution's Article 31B and a Schedule under it, claiming that the Article restrict their growth.

In the petition, the petitioners had claimed that the removal of the article will lead the way, challenging several anti-farmers’ laws that are the root cause behind the agrarian crisis in the country.

According to petitioners, some of the laws covered under the Agricultural Land Ceiling Act, Essential Commodities Act, and Land Acquisition Act, are part of the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution and are not open to judicial review, currently.

In Habib’s view, times have changed and so has the attitude of the government. He further said that, the government has stopped paying consideration to the farmers’ street agitations, thus through the KPA they have identified the main cause of the agrarian crisis and will eradicate it with the help of the judiciary.

KPA activist Makarand Doijad, who filed the petition in the SC, while explaining how they feel these laws are “anti-farmer” said that as stated by the Essential Commodities Act, every person has the right to determine the price of his product, storage capacity and transportation for every business, excluding cultivators.

Doijad then alleged that, "The Central government possesses all these rights. It decides the prices of the agriculture produce, and everything related to it," he said. ''The government has also restricted land holdings of farmers, which means they cannot own, land more than the determined limit".

He further claimed that, "Article 31B itself is non-constitutional as it violates the right to equality and justice to all citizens of the country since it says that all laws incorporated as part of the Ninth Schedule cannot be challenged in any court of law".

Following Doijad claims, Habib added that it is clear that farmers cannot challenge the existing laws despite being "draconian in nature".

Habib further said that, "If we are able to abolish these laws, then the government won't need to provide any farm loan waiver".



Tagged: Article 31B   Kisaan Putra Andolan Movement   Maharashtra Farmers   Supreme Court   Amar Habib   Central Government  
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