LIBARAJ Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner has filed the present petition seeking Writ of Mandamus against respondent nos. 1 to 3 for payment of the Crop Insurance claims for Kharip season of 2003 for Osmanabad Taluka in respect of Udid, Moong, Soyabean, groundnut, etc. Petitioner has also sought declaration to the effect that the Random System adopted by respondents to decide actual yield for a particular season and crop, to decide liability of Crop Insurance claim is arbitrary and improper. The petitioner has, therefore, also sought direction against the respondents to grant insurance claims considering the loss of the particular crop of the particular agriculturist as insured.

(2.) AT the outset, it has to be stated that in paragraph no. 2 of the petition, though the petitioner has raised contention that the present petition be treated as a public interest litigation since it espouses the cause of thousands of farmers who had actually participated in the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (hereinafter referred as "NAI Scheme"), the same does not seem to have been accepted as public interest litigation and has been heard as the writ filed by the petitioner.

(3.) IT is the further contention of the petitioner that the Paisewari declared by the Collector, Osmanabad, for the year 2003, is less than 50 per cent in each taluka of Osmanabad. The petitioner has also stated that the Collector, Osmanabad, has issued certificates in that regard to farmers in Osmanabad taluka certifying that Paisewari of Osmanabad taluka is 39 Paise. In such circumstances, according to the petitioner, all the farmers in Osmanabad taluka were entitled for grant of Insurance claims in the aforesaid insurance scheme. The petitioner has alleged that the claims of the farmers in the Osmanabad taluka have been refused arbitrarily and for invalid reasons. It is the further contention of the petitioner that the respondents have not conducted the required number of Crop Cutting Experiments (in short, 'C.C.E.') by actually visiting the field. The petitioner has further contended that the total procedure made applicable for deciding the insurance claims under NAI Scheme is unjust and improper. The petitioner has contended that the system based on C.C.E. method on random basis has caused severe injustice and prejudice to the farmers in Osmanabad taluka. According to petitioner, while deciding the insurance claim of the crops insured, the direct damages or loss caused to the particular crop in particular survey number of the particular farmer must have been taken into consideration.