Bhartiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) Moves Supreme Court To Challenge New Agricultural Laws

The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) has challenged the three bills – Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020, Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, in the Supreme Court of India. In its petition, the group has stated that the laws will “pave way for cartelization and commercialization of agriculture,” and will make farmers “vulnerable to corporate greed.”

The plea further goes on to state that the bills were “passed hastily without adequate discussion,” and that in spite of objections by various farmer groups, the government is still not ready to consider their problems. “Inherent weaknesses of the agricultural sector cannot be addressed by way of monetization of farmers,” the petition added, suggesting that the system needs strengthening of APMC system and Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The BKU(B) also pointed out in the plea that farmers have been protesting for days at Delhi’s borders, while multiple rounds of talks have failed to end the deadlock. The matter is likely to be heard in the Supreme Court in last week of December. Six more petitions against the farm laws are already pending in the apex court.