"Why should people who violate law...?": SC bench suggests farmers lighting up crop residue be denied MSP

New Delhi [India], November 21 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday, during a hearing on a plea pertaining to rising air pollution in Delhi-NCR, suggested that the farmers who engage in stubble burning be deprived of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) benefits as a part of the economic repercussions of their actions.
"Why should people who violate the law get economic benefits?" questioned a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia.
The bench observed that paddy should not be made available to farmers who indulge in burning their fields, as a deterrent to prevent future occurrences of farm fires.
"I am thinking out loud. Why should any purchase be made under the MSP system from people violating the orders and lighting fires, regardless of how this affects the people, the children? The stick must also follow the carrot. Why should people who, despite all observations of the court, despite counselling, continue violating the law be allowed to benefit monetarily? People who have been identified as having lit fires should not be allowed to sell their products under this system," Justice Kaul observed during the hearing.
At the same time, Justice Dhulia said farmers from Punjab are often vilified without being given a platform to voice their concerns and suggested they be helped with resources to understand the problem. "The farmer is being made a villain. He is not being heard. He must have some reasons for burning the stubble," he observed.
The bench also questioned the Punjab government over its decision to make the process of crop residue 100 per cent free.
"To burn it, all the farmer needs to do is light a matchstick. Machine for the management of crop residue to farmers is not everything. Even if the machine is given for free, there is diesel cost, manpower etc," the bench added, asking why Punjab cannot fund diesel, manpower, etc. and utilise the byproduct.
Punjab should also take a cue from Haryana in the manner in which financial incentives are given (to farmers to refrain from crop residue burning), the bench suggested.
"For poor farmers, the state should fund 100 per cent of machinery... this is the duty of the state," the apex court observed.
It further said land in Punjab is steadily turning arid as the water table is getting depleted.
"If land runs dry, everything else will get affected. Somewhere the farmers should understand or be made to understand the consequences of growing paddy," the bench said asking Attorney General R Venkataramani to explore how the government can discourage paddy and encourage alternate crops.
The apex court also called on the Centre and state governments to rise above politics and find a way out of crop residue burning.
"If the blame game continues, the land will run dry and water will disappear," the bench added.
At the outset of the hearing, the Punjab government told the top court that 8,481 meetings have been held with farmers and farm leaders to convince them to not burn paddy straws by SHOs.
In its order, the apex court noted that the upward trend in farm fires has not abated.
As many as 984 FIRs have been filed against landowners for stubble burning in Punjab and environmental compensation amounting to more than Rs 2 crores has been imposed of which Rs 18 lakhs has been recovered, the bench noted, asking the government to clarify the money it collected through the fines imposed.
The bench posted the matter for the next hearing on December 5.
The top court also directed the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments to file reports on incidents of waste burning in the open.
Senior advocate and former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Vipin Sanghi, flagged the issue of non-implementation of colour-coded stickers for vehicles. He submitted the scheme is being implemented for new cars, not old ones.
"We call upon Cabinet Secretary's Committee to look into this aspect and figure out what directions are to be issued to States for better compliance," the bench ordered.
It also asked the committee chaired by the cabinet secretary to look into aspects of construction at private sites.