Sugar mills using plastic bags for packaging in blatant violation of the Jute Packaging Materials Act (JPMA)-1987 are headed for trouble as the Government of India on the advice of the law ministry has directed the Jute Commissioner to initiate action against such non-compliant mills.
JPMA provides for mandatory use of jute bags for the purpose of packing food grains and sugar up to 100 per cent.
Under Section 9 of the Act, sugar mills and others flouting the Act can be punished with the imposition of a penalty which is double the cost of jute packaging material which should have been used.
In a recent letter R K Vashisth, under secretary, Union ministry of textiles issued instructions to Jute Commissioner Atri Bhattacharya to file criminal complaints against the erring sugar mills.
“The Central Government does not have the power to impose penalty under Section 9 of JPMA-1987’. It vests with the ‘competent court’ which means the district court under whose jurisdiction the particular sugar unit is located,” Vashisth's letter said.
The ministry's directive comes after a long-standing demand from the jute industry to implement Section 9 of JPMA-1987 as there is allegation of rampant flouting of law by the sugar mills and other units. The CAG was apprised of the matter and it had sent notices to the Union textiles ministry for necessary action.
According to O P Bagri, deputy legal adviser, Ministry of Law and Justice- Department of Legal Affairs, any violation of JPMA-1987 is a cognizable offence under Sections 7, 8, 9 and 12 of the Act where the Jute Commissioner or any competent authority has the power to inspect, cease and impose penalty by following it up with police action under the Code for Criminal Procedure (CrPc) against the erring parties.
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Individuals can also file criminal charges against the violators of JPMA, 1987.
Meanwhile, plastic manufacturers have alleged that the jute industry is engaged in ‘cartlelizing’, ‘manipulating’ and ‘artificial rigging’ of raw jute and jute goods prices, violating provisions of the Competition Act-2002. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is probing the complaint. In 2010 -11 the beleaguered jute industry fears to have lost Rs 1500 crore as the peak sugar season was over by October and JPMA-1987 was not extended by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs until November 16.
The jute industry supplies around 0.2 million tonnes of 50 kg A Twill jute bags produced every year for mandatory packing of sugar manufactured in 450 sugar mills.