The Centre's notification restricting the sale of cattle in the country is glaringly unconstitutional and an affront to federalism besides being a blow to farmers. The centre cannot create any law or issue orders/notification on a subject that is in the State list, in the division of legislative powers between the centre and states. Livestock is a state subject. 
 
In the State List under Schedule VII: Paras 15 and 16 cover livestock.
 
Here is the original notification, issued under the Prevention of Cruelty Act, assuming powers that the basic Act itself doesnt have. Sabrangindia has broken the story yesterday along with scroll.in
 
http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2017/176216.pdf
 
It can also be read here.
 
Interestingly, the world's first animal protection law was passed by Hitler in 1933 to ban the Jewish Koushar meat and to selectively harass Jewish biologists.

Already some states and other individuals and organisations are expressing outrage and expressing their desire to approach the Supreme Court where it is hoped it will be struck down as un-Constitutional.
 
Here are some of the Orwellian terms of the Notification:
 
Restrictions on sale of cattle.— The Member Secretary of the Animal Market Committee shall ensure that-
(a) no person shall bring to an animal market a young animal;
(b) no person shall bring a cattle to an animal market unless upon arrival he has furnished a written
declaration signed by the owner of the cattle or his duly authorised agent—
(i) stating the name and address of the owner of the cattle, with a copy of the photo identification
proof ;
(ii) giving details of the identification of the cattle;
(iii) stating that the cattle has not been brought to market for sale for slaughter;
(c) every declaration furnished to the Animal Market Committee shall be retained by it for a period of six
months from the date on which it is furnished to them and the Animal Market Committee shall, on
demand made by an Inspector at any reasonable time during that period, produce such declaration and
allow a copy of it or an extract from it to be taken;
(d) where an animal has been sold and before its removal from the animal market, the Animal Market
Committee shall—
II (i) 17
(i) obtain the expenses incurred for each animal, as approved by the District Animal Market
Monitoring Committee, so as to provide the basic facilities for animals and people;
(ii) take an undertaking that the animals are bought for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter;
(iii) keep a record of name and address of the purchaser and procure his identity proof;
(iv) verify that the purchaser is an agriculturist by seeing the relevant revenue document;
(v) ensure that the purchaser of the animal gives a declaration that he shall not sell the animal up
to six months from the date of purchase and shall abide by the rules relating to transport of
animals made under the Act or any other law for the time being in force;
(vi) retain such record for a period of six months from the date of sale;
(vii) produce such record before an Inspector on demand being made by him at any reasonable time
during that period and allow a copy of it or an extract from it to be taken;
(e) the purchaser of the cattle shall –
(i) not sell the animal for purpose of slaughter;
(ii) follow the State cattle protection or preservation laws;
(iii) not sacrifice the animal for any religious purpose;
(iv) not sell the cattle to a person outside the State without the permission as per the State cattle
protection or preservation laws;
(f) where a cattle has been sold and before its removal from the animal market, the proof of sale shall be
issued in five copies, out of which first copy shall be handed over to purchaser, second copy to seller,
third copy to tehsil office of the residence of purchaser, fourth copy to the Chief Veterinary Officer in
the district of purchaser and last copy to be kept intact in the record by the Animal Market Committee.
 
 

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It was funny to see the water man, Rajendra Singh of Magsaysay fame standing together with them at the Sasthamkotta lake but not entirely surprising to see him  join the BJP mela*

(Photo: A Cola victim, Thankavelu, son of Mayilamma helplessly looking at his well rendered useless by the cola company)

What Sangh Parivar rule has done to Gujarat is a good lesson for the country to learn from. The state has been turned into an ecological nightmare. A whole river was all but eliminated by design- the fate of the Sabarmati. The groundwater of a good 70 talukas is today polluted. The golden industrial triangle is one the world’s pollution hotspots. Alang coast has been turned into a hell on earth, with dead ships from around the world coming to be buried. 400 water bodies with about 2000 sq km water area in the state have disappeared when the Narmada was being regimentally dammed. And the Kalpasar project to destroy the entire gulf of Khambhat is waiting in the wings…to "happen"

One of the first things Modi did when came to power was to seek to amend the conservation laws, for which it formed the Subrahmanian committee which gave lethal recommendations to open up our forests to the business sector.

It was surprising that some state government functionaries were seen playing a key role in this campaign of a political party. BJP has also roped in someone who was associated with the Plachimada which amounts to an insult to the people of the village and their brave struggle..and to the memory of the movement's leader Mayilamma whose death anniversary will be observed tomorrow…The Jala Swaraj is obviously a gimmick by the BJP for cynical political mobilisation….

From a Facebook Post of S. Faizi

* (The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation that had opposed the Non-Alligned Movement (NAM)
 

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That’s the question which Dr S Faizi, an environmental expert has raised in a letter dated May 11, 2016 addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The protest missive to the PM has been prompted by a letter from the Union home ministry to the Kerala government informing the letter that the President has been ‘pleased to withhold’ assent to the Plachimada Coca Cola Victims Compensation Claims Tribunal Bill 2011.

The Bill was passed by the Kerala Assembly, unanimously, following the exhaustive report of the multidisciplinary High Power Committee that investigated the massive damages caused by the American company in Plachimada village, in order to elicit compensation from the recalcitrant company for the poor victims. Faizi was a member of the high power committee as an environmental expert.

The enactment of this Bill was a critical contribution in enforcing a legal regime for the sustainable management of the scarce natural resources of the country as a public resource as underlined by the recent Supreme Court judgment in the G2 scam and to remedy the deprivations suffered by the victims.

“I express my profound concern about the government action refusing Presidential assent for the Bill and at the same time express my hope that the American multinational shall be brought to justice in spite of the government’s proactive support of the unrepentant company,” said Faizi in his letter.

Full text of Faizi’s letter:

To
Shri Narendra Modi
Honourable  Prime Minister
New Delhi

Subversion of the Plachimada/Compensation Bill is a glaring breach of the national interest

Honourable Prime Minister,

Can a government elected to protect India’s national sovereignty compromise on its duty by letting go a foreign multinational that has devastated a whole village of the country, consistently disregarded the statutory authorities and callously breached numerous laws of the land?

As expert member of the Plachimada High Power Committee established by the Kerala government I was shocked to see the letter from the Home Ministry to the Kerala Govt  informing that the President has been ‘pleased to withhold’ assent to the  Plachimada Coca Cola Victims Compensation Claims Tribunal Bill 2011.

The Bill was passed by the Kerala Assembly, unanimously, following the exhaustive report of  the multidisciplinary High Power Committee that investigated the massive damages caused by the American company in Plachimada village, in order to elicit compensation from the recalcitrant company for the poor victims. This was by way of upholding Article 21 of the Constitution and in line with the polluter pays principle, and covering entirely State subjects (II under the VII Schedule), namely,  health, agriculture, labor, animal husbandry, groundwater etc. The Plachimada Bill is in fulfillment of the State's obligation in terms of Article 21 as interpreted by the Supreme Court and based on the polluter pays principle that has become an integral part of our jurisprudence. The enactment of this Bill was a critical contribution in enforcing a legal regime for the sustainable management of the scarce natural resources of the country as a public resource as underlined by the recent Supreme Court judgment in the G2 scam and to remedy the deprivations suffered by the victims, and in pursuance of Article 39b of the Constitution. It fills an important legislative gap and complements the  Green Tribunal Act 2010, which puts a time bar of five years for filing cases for compensation.

The desperate Cola company has challenged the Bill, through ‘legal opinion’ of their lawyers, arguing that the Kerala Assembly had no legal competence to enact the Bill as they didn’t have any valid points to raise. It is unfortunate that the Solicitor General was repeating the arguments of the Cola company, far more vigorously than the company lawyers, which were unfounded and invalid as explained in the responses submitted to the Home Ministry by the Kerala govt and myself. It was the pro-Cola interest of the UPA Home Minister Mr Chidambaram that held up the Bill from being passed on to the President for a good four years. There were intense lobbying by the Cola company and US officials of various kinds against the Bill. Yet the UPA did not have the brazenness to decline Presidential assent, but your government was too quick to act in favour of the American multinational, undermining the national interests and the Constitutional provisions.

The Cola company was challenging and threatening the High Power Committee, right from the time the HPC was established by the Kerala government, and their latest challenge was the legislative competence of the State Assembly to enact the Bill, it is the misfortune of the country that our Solicitor General is repeating a multinational company’s desperate arguments. His arguments in the ‘Ex Parte Opinion’ dated 5.11.14 constitutes an ominous challenge to the State’s powers to enact legislation on subjects in the State list to address violations of Article 21 of the Constitution, does not even refer to the replies submitted to the Home Ministry when such arguments were raised by the Cola lawyers Mr K K Venugopal and Mr Feli S Nariman in their respective legal opinions in 2011 itself. Here I am attaching, for your information, the reply I had submitted as expert member of the High Power Committee.

The gratuitous advice to approach National Green Tribunal by both the UPA and your Solicitor General is only an alibi. The company was ordered closed by the State Pollution Control Board in March 2004 and as per the NGT Act (Section 15.3) the victims should have filed the case latest by March 2009, with a grace period of six months. But the NGT Act was passed in June 2010, and NGT became operational only next year May. How could have the Plachimada victims approach the NGT that was non-existent within the time bar the law has set. The Plachimada Bill was an excellent complement to the NGT filling the temporal gap, and ensuring natural justice to the poor victims of a remote village. And your government has sabotaged it.

Like Mr Chidambaram, your government also undermines the endorsement of the Bill by all the related ministries at the Centre, namely, the ministries of agriculture, rural development, water resources, food processing industries and the Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law. Beyond categorical approval, some ministries have in fact recommended to take stronger measures than the contents of the Bill. Yet you have chosen to sabotage the Bill, in favour of American corporate interests. This rejection of the Bill also serves a blow to the time tested Center-State relations; it is deeply worrying that the Solicitor General and the government are challenging the legislative competence of the State to enact laws on subjects listed under II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

It would be pertinent to see how the US, the home country of the Cola company, has handled the British Petroleum for accidentally spilling oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The US President ordered the payment of US $ 20 billion and the company paid the amount without serious resistance, unlike the Cola company. Our government, whether NDA or UPA, has an important lesson to learn from US- on how to protect the genuine national interest.
I express my profound concern about the government action refusing Presidential assent for the Bill and at the same time express my hope that the American multinational shall be brought to justice in spite of the government’s proactive support of the unrepentant company.

With the best regards

Sincerely,

S Faizi

See Faizi's 2011 letter to former home minister PC Chidambaram here.

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