High Court acknowledges assistance provided to accused by chief agricultural officers and inspectors

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has become aware of a scam in which the chief agriculture officers and pesticide inspectors assist accused parties in an illegal manner by postponing the filing of complaints with the courts, even after receiving reports from public analysts and approval under the terms of the Insecticides Act.

The Punjab Director of Agriculture has also been requested by High Court Justice N S Shekhawat to provide district-level statistics for the last five years in each Act case by submitting his own evidence on eleven different topics.

He has been requested to provide, among other things, the dates of sample collection from the dealer/manufacturer, the receipt of the public analyst report, the approval from the relevant authority, and the ultimate filing of the case in the relevant court.

Despite receiving the report and the punishment, Justice Shekhawat said that in several instances, the court learned that the chief agricultural officers and pesticide inspectors of the relevant district had not filed complaints for several years.

Judge Shekhawat said, “The maximum sentence provided under the provisions of the Insecticides Act is two years, and the complaints are instituted after a delay of three years. In all these cases, this delay is caused by the concerned officials helping the accused illegally.”

Judge Shekhawat further requested in his comprehensive ruling that the Director of Agriculture include the dates for sending the sample to the public analyzer and for issuing a follow-up show-cause notice to the dealer, manufacturer, etc.

In addition, he was asked to list the names of the officers who took the samples in each case, the district’s chief agriculture officer who was in place on the day the sample was taken, the names of the inspectors of pesticides, and the chief agriculture officer stationed at the appropriate location in each case where the complaints were determined to be past due.

Along with the progress of the probe, details were also requested about the beginning of criminal action or the filing of FIRs against the officials who had submitted the complaints after the statute of limitations had passed, as well as departmental or disciplinary action against such individuals.

A copy of the order was also instructed to be provided to the Department of Agriculture’s Secretary for review and appropriate action. On the next hearing day, the Director of Agriculture and the Chief Agricultural Officer of Bathinda were also instructed to stay in person. The matter will now be heard the first week of May.