'Duty-Free Import Of Yellow Peas Harming Indian Farmers', Says Kisan Group In PIL; Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Response

The Supreme Court on Thursday (September 25) issued notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition challenging the policy of the Union Government to allow the import of yellow dal without any duty.A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice NK Singh was hearing the petition filed by 'Kisan Mahapanchayat', a farmers' organisation, which contended that the policy was harming Indian agriculturists.Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for the petitioner, submitted that the policy has resulted in the fall in the prices of soyabean, groundnut, urud, moong and tur dal below the Minimum Support Price. He pointed out that a Government expert body, the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices, had recommended in March 2025 the ban on the import of yellow peas. The Commission further recommended that the import duty on other pulses, such as tur, arhar, lentil, should be increased to align with the domestic prices. He added that NITI Ayog, in September this year, recommended that domestic pulse production must be increased, given the reliance on imports. "India must prioritise domestic food production to ensure long-term food security and price stability by increasing the area under cultivation and reducing import dependence," Bhushan read out from the NITI Ayog report.Justice Kant however asked if India has sufficient domestic production of dal. "Did you examine? The production of pulses in India is insufficient."Bhushan said that the import of yellow peas is happening at Rs 3500 per quintal, and it is used as a substitute for urad, toor and chana. The MSP fixed for these dals is around Rs.8500 per quintal. "So import is at Rs.35 per kilo, whereas domestic prices is at 85 per kilo. Earlier, the Government had imposed substantive import duties and restricted imports. Some of these importing companies came to this Court. This Court, in two judgments, held this cannot be challenged as this has been done to protect the domestic farmers. Today, the situation is just the opposite," Bhushan said.Justice Kant however repeated his query regarding the sufficiency of domestic production. "Do we have sufficiency of domestic production of pulses to cater to our needs. What is happening is, farmer cannot afford to store. Storage is not owned by farmers. So the price factor, the farmer will get less than base price...." Justice Kant said.Bhushan said that the Commission has repeatedly flagged that the import has led to a situation where farmers cannot sell the pulses at a price equal to the costs. The bench said that it was inclined to issue notice only in the light of the reports of the Commission and NITI Ayog. "We are inclined to issue notice only to because of these official and very responsible institution reports...but ultimately you will have to examine the net end result may not be sufferings of the consumer...farmer will not get, because farmer has already sold," Justice Kant said.Bhushan said that the Government order for making the import duty-free did not mention any reason at all. Justice Kant also referred to the petitioner's claim that in Australia and other countries, yellow dal was being used as cattle fodder. "What is the health impact of this?" Justice Kant asked."That's another problem, these dals may cause health problems," Bhushan replied."Even the Agriculture minister has written to the government saying that we need to...everybody is expressing concern...farmers are dying. They are committing suicide!" Bhushan stated.Case : KISAN MAHAPANCHAYAT v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS | W.P.(C) No. 911/2025Click Here To Read/Download Order

'Duty-Free Import Of Yellow Peas Harming Indian Farmers', Says Kisan Group In PIL; Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Response

Debby Jain

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