Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2005 (Haryana Act No. 22 of 2006)

I T HE PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE MARKETS (HARYANA AMENDM ENT) ACT, 2005 (Haryana Act No. 22 of2 006) No. Leg . 24/2006. - The followin g Act of the Leg islature of the State of Haryana received the assent of the President of India on the 25 th May, 2006 , and is hereby publi shed for general information: Year No . Short titl e Whether repealed or otherwise affected by legislation I 2 3 4 2006 22 The Punjab Agricultura l Pro duce Markets (Haryana Amendmen t) Act, 1961 I For Statement ofObjects and Reasons, see Haryana Gove rnment Gazette (Extraordinary), 2005, page Short title. Substitutionof long title to PunjabAct 23 of 1961. Amendment of section 2 of PunjabAct 23 of 1961. 2 AN ACT 10 substitute the long title of the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961 andfurther to amend the said Act in its application to the State ofHaryana HE it enacted by the Legislature ofthe State of Haryana in the Fitly sixth Year of the Republic of India as follow s: I. This Act may be called the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2005 . 2. For the exist ing long title of the Punjab Agricultu ral Produce Markets Act , 1961 (hereinafter called the principal Act), the following long title shall be subst ituted, namely : " to provid e for improved regulation in marketin g of agricultura l produce, development of efficient marketing system, promotion of agri processing and agricultural export and the establi shment and proper admini stration of markets for agricultural produce in the State of Haryana and to put in place an effective infrastructure for marketing of agricultural produce and lay down procedures and systems thereto." . 3. In section 2 of the principal Act, (I) for clause (a), the following clauses shall be subst ituted, namel y: '( a) "agriculture produce" means all produce and comm oditie s whether proce ssed or unprocessed of agriculture, horticulture! apiculture, sericulture, animal husbandry, fleeces (raw wool) and skin of animal s, forest produce etc. as are specified in the Schedule or declared by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette, from time to time and also includes a mixture of more than two such products; (aa) "agriculturist" means a person who is a res ident of notifi ed market are and who is engaged in producti on of agricultura l produce by himself or by hired labour or othe rwise, but does not inelude any market functionary . If a question arises whether any person is an agriculturist or not for the purpo se of this Act, the decision of the Collector of the district in which such person is engaged in the production or growth of agricultural produce shall be final ;' ; (II) after clause (e) , th e following claus« ,h"1I he inserted , nam ely v ' (cal "business" means purchase-sale, proce ssing, value addition, storage, transportation and connected activ it ies of agr icultura l produc e; (cb) "buyer" means a person, a firm, a company or co-operative society or government agen cy, public undertaking/public agcncy or corporation, commission agent, who himself or on behalf of any other person or agent buys or agrees to buy agricultural produce in the market area s notified under this Insertion or section 8a in Punjab Act 23 of 1961. 3 Act;'; (Ill) after clause (d), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely: '( da) "contract farming" means farming by a contrac t farming producer under a written agree ment with contract farming sponsor to the effect that this farm produc e shall be purchased as specitied in the agreement; (db) "contract farming agreement" means an agreement made for contract farming between contract farming sponsor and contract farming produc er; (de) "contract farming producer" means an agriculturist association of agric ulturists, self-help group, author ised tenants of agr iculturist, co-operative soc ieties registered under the Haryana Co-operat ive Soc ieties Act, 1984 (22 of 1984), and shall includ e the successors, heirs, executors and represe ntatives of the party executin g the agreement; (dd) "contract farmin g sponsor" means a person, a sole proprietor, a company registered under the Companies Act , 1956 (1 of 1956), a partnership firm registered under the Indian Partnership Act , 1932 (9 of 1932), a Government agency, a co-operative society registered under the Haryana Co-operative Societies Act , 1984), and shall include its administrators, successors, representatives and assignees; '; (IV) after clause 9iO, the following clause shall be inserted, namely: '( ia) "marketing" means all activities involved in the flow of agr icultura l produce from the production points commencing from the stage of harvest till these reach the ultimate consumers viz. grading, processing, storage, transport, channels of distribution and all other funct ions connect ed therewith including the marketing under contract farming;'; 4. Alter section 8 of the principal Act, the following section sha ll be inserted, namely. "8A. Procedure and form of contract farming agreement. ( I) The contract farming agreement shall be gove rned as under: (i) contract farming sponsor shall register himself with the Committee or with a prescribed officer in such mann er as may be prescribed; (ii) contract farmin g sponsor shall get the contract farm ing "ereement exeenten with the contract farmine produ cer and get the same reg istered with the officer prescribed in this behalf. The contract farming agreement shall be in such form contai ning such particulars and terms and conditi ons as may be prescribed for marketing of contract farming produce. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in contract farming agreement, no title , rights, ownership or possession of the land shall be transferred or alienated or vested in the contract farming sponsor or his 4 successor or his agent as a consequence arising out of the contract farming agreement. (3) The contrac t-farming sponsor shall be the buyer of the agr icultural produce covered under the contract farming agree ment. The business premises of the sponsor shall be deemed to be the market yard for the purpose of sale and purchase of agr icultural produce covered under contract farmin g agreement ofthat sponsor. (4) Dispute s arising out of the contract farmin g agreement may be referred to any authority prescribed in thi s behalf for settlement. The prescribed authority shall resolve the disput e in the summary manner within thirty days after givi ng the parties a reaso nable opportunity of being heard in the manner prescribed. (5) The party aggr ieved by the decision of the prescribed author ity under sub-section (4) may prefer an appeal to an appellate author ity as may be prescribed , within thirty days from the date of decision . The appellate author ity shall dispose of the appea l within thi rty days after giving the partie s reasonable opportunity of being heard and the decision of the appellate auth ority shall be final. (6) The decision by the prescribed authority under sub-section (4) and decision in appeal under sub-section (5) shall have force of the decree of the civil court and shall be enforceable as such and the decretal amount shall be recovered as an arrear of land revenue. (7) Disputes relating to and arising out of contract farming agreement shall not be called in question in any civil COUlL " . M.S. SU LLAR, Secretary to Gove rnment, Haryana, Legislative Department.