Guj Cotton Seeds Act invalid: HC

Ahmedabad: The pricing of cotton seeds is no more under the control of the state government, as the Gujarat high court has declared the Gujarat Cotton Seeds Act invalid as it comes into conflict with the legislation made by the Centre.
A division bench headed by chief justice SJ Mukhopadhaya set aside the Gujarat Cotton Seeds (Regulation of Supply, Distribution, Sale and Fixation of Sale Price) Act of 2008, for the Centre has added cotton seeds in its schedule of essential commodities and came to be regulated by the law enacted by the Centre.
In 1966, the parliament passed Seeds Act and Seeds (Control) Order in 1983 for the purpose of controlling manufacturing and marketing of seeds. The Environment (Protection) Act provided for the rules of manufacture, use, import, export and storage of Hazardous Micro Organisms or Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells in 1989. A Genetic Engineering Approval Committee was formed accordingly.
The committee approved various Bt cotton hybrids in 2002. Gujarat fixed retail prices of cotton seeds in May 2006. In December 2006, the parliament passed Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act which came into effect the next year, and cotton seed was taken out of the items listed in the schedule as an 'essential commodity'.
Gujarat passed its Cotton Seeds Act 2008 on June 11 that year. This legislation was challenged before the high court with contention that the regulation of cotton seeds is the subject of the Centre, but the petition was rejected on the ground that the item of cotton seeds was excluded from EC Act.
However, after the high court judgment, the Centre came up with a notification on December 12, 2009 bringing cotton seed back into the list of essential commodities. This led the National Seeds Association of India to approach the high court claiming that while a central law exists, the state legislation becomes repugnant.
The state government argued that the legislation was made in order to protect the interest of farmers from hostile market forces. It contended that the EC Act is enacted essentially for control of production, supply and distribution and trade and commerce in certain commodities, and the provisions of the 1966 Seeds Act are not enough to meet the requirement of controlling Bt cotton in Gujarat at present. Hence, the state legislation should not be declared invalid. After the hearing, the division bench allowed the Association's petition and struck down the state's legislation.