- (1.) WE have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties.
(2.) BY this writ petition filed in public interest, the petitioner has prayed for following reliefs: - - "(1) to kindly issue a writ of Mandamus or any other writ, order or direction in the nature thereof and thereby the respondents be directed - - - - i) to ensure the compliance of provisions of law in the seed production programme to maintain quality & purity in the seed of Rabi, Kharib & Jayad, Oilseeds, Fiber crops, fruits and vegetables etc, and ii) to make the perfect & mandatory guidelines in respect of the registration of farmer/grower, publication of list of registered farmer at gram panchayat office & on internet/website with the complete detail (Name & Address of the farmer/grower, Crop, Variety, Name of Agency, Identification of Land and Document), payment to grower/farmer through bank account with the photo ID, of the grant, subsidy and total price of the seed/crop of seed production programme, and iii) to disclose the action which is taken by the respondents after receiving the inquiry report and in the compliance of recommendation of the inquiry committee, and iv) to take the appropriate disciplinary action against the officers who found guilty in the scam of seed production programme Rabi, 2010 -2011 as well as to lodge a criminal case against them with private agencies & persons, and v) to make a detail inquiry of last three years seed production programme, in all crops and in all units of the State & National level, of all the respondents through Central Bureau of Investigation, and vi) to take appropriate action against the persons who found guilty, under the provision of Seed Act, Essential Commodities Act and other relevant provisions as well as under the Indian Penal Code, and vii) to seize the poor quality seed from market & storage godowns, and recover the loss from the negligent & guilty officers, agencies and persons as well as to take strict action against the blackmarketeers, and (2) to kindly issue a writ of Mandamus or any other writ, order or direction in the nature thereof and thereby the respondents be directed to hold a detail inquiry for non -compliance of the provision of law in seed Production & Distribution programme, to fix the responsibility and necessary punitive action may kindly be ordered to be taken against those responsible for this kind of misdeeds. (3) to kindly issue a writ of Mandamus or any other writ, order or direction in the nature thereof and thereby the respondent No. 1 & 5 be directed to conduct the seed production & distribution programme through Agriculture Supervisor of the Gram Panchayat, and (4) to kindly issue a writ of Mandamus or any other writ, order or direction in the nature thereof and thereby the respondents respondent No. 1 & 5 be directed to declare the Gram Panchayat, as Nodal Agency in sale, purchase, storage, labelling, marketing and certification of seeds. (5) Any other appropriate writ, order or directions which is deemed just and proper by this Hon'ble Court may also be passed in favour of the petitioner; (6) Costs of the writ petition may also be allowed in favour of the petitioner." An Enquiry Committee was constituted by the Principal Secretary, Agriculture -cum - Chairman Rajasthan State Seeds & Organic Production Certification Agency, Jaipur, under the Chairmanship of Shri G.S. Sandhu, Joint Director (Agriculture), Jaipur, consisting of Shri B.S. Gupta, Seed Certification Officer (Quality Control), Headquarters, Jaipur, Shri Chandrabhan Singh, Seed Certification Officer, R.S.S.O.P.C.A., Unit Jaipur, Shri J.S. Rathore, Deputy Seed Certification Officers, Headquarters, Jaipur and Shri S.K. Sharma, Assistant Seed Certification Officer, Headquarters, Jaipur. The Committee carried out detailed inspections of the records, and took the statements of the farmers, with the terms, to enquire as to whether the State Farms Corporation of India (SFCI) has got the seed certifications made, by falsely showing the agricultural lands of the landless farmers; whether the farmers were given detailed information regarding the production of seeds, and the process of certification; whether the farmers received the grants payable to them, for growing the seeds; and lastly, as to whether all the seeds were certified, in accordance with the Seed Production & Distribution Programme.
(3.) THE Committee returned the findings, that in Rabi Year 2010 -11, the SFCI did not distribute the seeds by itself; the seeds were distributed through Shri Dhanna Lal Dhayal of Rajdhani Seeds Sales Corporation, which creates doubt over the distribution of foundation seeds; the bills of the foundation seeds and gate -passes were not issued individually; a common release order was shown to be issued to all the villagers, which appears to be a manipulation, in which fraudulent documents were prepared; the stock registers were not maintained at the sales centre, and in which the stocks were not entered, and that, entries were made subsequently, on the basis of sales, without verification of the officers/employees; the sales of seeds were shown by cash, whereas the Enquiry Committee was told that the price of the foundation seeds is adjusted in the price of the raw seeds, which also raise a doubt, as to whether the release orders were issued after making cash payments. The Committee further found that the farmers were not given information by SFCI, regarding the production of the seeds and the seed certification, as well as policy of sale, which also creates a doubt over the intentions of the SFCI, right from the beginning; the SFCI, allowed distribution of the seeds, without verifying the undertakings given by farmers on the non -judicial stamp paper of Rs. 100/ -, and that, the documents, such as release orders and the receipts of the raw seeds do not tally. The signatures on these documents appears to be fraudulent. The advance payments were made, without obtaining the signatures of the farmers, and that, all the signatures appear to be made by a single person, which also raises doubt over the payment of advance amount.;