Punjab Govt makes sale of spurious seeds non-bailable offence

The Punjab Cabinet on Friday accorded approval to the introduction of the Seeds (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2025, to make the sale of spurious seeds a non-bailable offence.

A decision to this effect was taken by the Council of Ministers at its meeting held here under the chairmanship of the CM.

A spokesperson for the Chief Minister’s Office said there had been no amendment to Section 19 of the Seeds Act, 1966, since its inception, due to which the fine and penalties had no deterrence. So the Cabinet gave the nod to enact a Bill to amend the Act and insert Section 19A for the contravention of Section 7, enhancing the fine and penalty, besides making it a cognisable and non-bailable offence.

The Haryana Government has already made these amendments to the Act.

As per the latest provision, the first offence by any company will invite a punishment of 1-2 years, besides a fine of Rs 5-10 lakh. For a repeat offence, the punishment will be 2-3 years and a fine of Rs 10-50 lakh. A similar misdeed by a dealer will invite a punishment of 6 months to one year and a fine of Rs 1 lakh to 5 lakh for the first offence. For a repeat offence, the punishment will be of 1-2 years, besides a fine of Rs 5-10 lakh. Earlier, the fine was Rs 500 for the first offence and Rs 1,000 for a repeat offence, besides a jail term for up to six months.

The Cabinet also accorded approval for evolving a mechanism to provide land parcels (on sale or lease basis) for promoting industrial/business investment in the state. The move is aimed at giving impetus to investment in the state.

There was reportedly a lack of formal time-bound mechanism for identifying and provisioning land parcels for investors. So, a comprehensive mechanism has been approved.

The Cabinet also approved amendments to rules 5(b) and 5(d) of the Punjab State (Group D) Service Rules, 1963, thereby enhancing the upper age limit from the existing 35 years to 37 years for appointments. For uniformity, rule 5(b) has been amended to keep the age of appointment between 18 and 37 years. Educational qualification under rule 5(d) has been modified from ‘Middle’ to ‘Matriculation’.

The Cabinet also okayed the introduction of a one-time settlement scheme (OTS) for industrialists; revision of Punjab District Mineral Foundation (DMF) rules as per revised guidelines of the Centre; and the Punjab Food grains Transportation Policy 2025.