Due to the exclusionary nature of legal language, crucial elements of law remain out of the domain of those who need most access to it. Knowledge of law is a necessity if one has to be a social justice advocate. Civil Society and Grassroots Organisations need ready access to important judgments so as to solidify their arguments while fighting for any cause. This book is an endeavour towards that.
This book covers a plethora of topics which have a direct impact on grassroots governance and farmers’ rights. The judgments included in this book have been curated for grassroots organisations to use them for various purposes outside of the Court of law. While contacting government departments or writing applications to officials, these judicial pronouncements can be used to back one’s claim, along with provisions of law. If the rule of law is used as the basis for any intervention, it will make the case of the applicant stronger.
Part I covers the jurisprudence of Schedule V regions of India, Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, (‘PESA’) Forest Rights Act (‘FRA’), interpretations of the powers of the Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayats by the Courts, and the word “consultation” with respect to the Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat which find its way in innumerable statutes. Relevant sections of the Indian Forest Act and their inconsistency with FRA has also been highlighted.
The Biological Diversity Act (‘BDA’) was enacted in 2002 to protect biodiversity by establishing local biodiversity management committees and paving the way for access to the benefit sharing regime. This act has great relevance when it comes to corporations usurping resources from biodiversity-rich areas at the local communities’ expense. Thus, knowledge about this act and access to benefit sharing agreement (‘ABS’) becomes necessary.
The Disaster Management Act, 2005 (‘DMA’) has also been included in this compilation because of its implications on the ground for setting up a disaster mitigation mechanism. Floods, droughts, cyclones, are the most common disasters striking every year, and engagement with authorities and stakeholders vis-a-vis the DMA becomes absolutely crucial. The cases have been included here to give some perspective with respect to the functioning of the Act and how practitioners can use this compilation while writing to authorities or approaching Courts.
Part II of the book is regarding Farmers’ Rights. This covers the topics of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (‘ECA’) (including the amendment), the Seeds Act, 1996, the Plant Protection Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 (‘PPVFRA’). To simplify PPVFRA, a complicated legislation in itself, a short article has also been written explaining the law in detail and the current position of law.
A crucial redressal mechanism for farmers can be seen in the consumer law regime in India. In 2012, the Supreme Court settled the position that an agriculturist/farmer is a consumer under the Act and can file complaints and receive compensation under the Act. This forum becomes even more relevant with the passage of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (‘FPTCA’) and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 (‘Contract Farming Act’). Since plenty of material is already out there critiquing the acts, for the sake of brevity, we have not included the critique but have included a separate note laying out how the jurisdiction of the consumer courts can be invoked despite there being a bar on civil Courts’ jurisdiction under both these legislations.
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This is a collaborative work of IDEAL-Centre for Social Justice and Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network.
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