SC restores dismissed PIL challenging validity of Centre’s farm laws

The Supreme Court on Thursday restored a PIL, which was dismissed earlier, challenging the constitutional validity of Centre’s newly enacted three farm laws on a floor that Parliament lacked energy to make legislations on the topic as ‘agriculture’ is a state topic within the Constitution.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, on October 12, had issued a discover to the Centre on a batch of petitions towards the three contentious farm laws and had sought its reply in 4 weeks.

However, it had dismissed the PIL filed by lawyer M L Sharma towards these statutes by asking him to strategy the High Court as an alternative.

“We will restore and keep your matter for admission after two weeks,” the bench, additionally comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, mentioned when Mr. Sharma claimed on Thursday that he couldn’t argue his case on the final date of listening to.

In a listening to carried out through video conferencing, the lawyer sought restoration of his dismissed PIL by saying “if I could not appear before the court and argue myself, then it amounts to non-appearance.”

The bench mentioned it remembered as to what had transpired on the final date of listening to within the case.

“We had discussed it. The point on which we had dismissed it was that there was no cause of action,” the bench mentioned.

Earlier, the highest court docket had determined to listen to pleas of RJD lawmaker from Rajya Sabha, Manoj Jha and DMK Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, Tiruchi Siva, and one by Rakesh Vaishnav of Chhattisgarh Kisan Congress towards the three laws — Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.

These laws got here into being from September 27 after President Ram Nath Kovind’s assent.

These pleas have sought setting apart of these statutes on varied grounds.

Mr. Sharma, in his PIL, has mentioned that these laws are “being contra to the Article 246 of the Constitution” because the agriculture falls within the State checklist unstead of Union List and therefore, Parliament has no energy to legislate on the topic.

“That the present petition is being filed to decide constitutional questions follow such as whether Parliament has constitutional power to make a law in the subject matter belong to state list,” the plea mentioned

The agriculture is positioned at entry 14 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, it mentioned.

“Entry 14. Agriculture, including agricultural education and research, protection against pests and prevention of plant diseases,” reads the entry 14.