13. Conciliation board for dispute settlement.—(1) Every farming agreement shall explicitly
provide for a conciliation process and formation of a conciliation board consisting of representatives of
parties to the agreement:
Provided that representation of parties in such conciliation board shall be fair and balanced.
(2) A dispute arising from any farming agreement shall be first referred to the conciliation board
formed as per the provisions of the farming agreement and every endeavour shall be made by such board
to bring about settlement of such dispute.
(3) Where, in respect of any dispute, a settlement is arrived during the course of conciliation
proceeding, a memorandum of settlement shall be drawn accordingly and signed by the parties to such
dispute and such settlement shall be binding on the parties.
14. Mechanism for dispute resolution.—(1) Where, the farming agreement does not provide for
conciliation process as required under sub-section (1) of section 13, or the parties to the farming
agreement fail to settle their dispute under that section within a period of thirty days, then, any such party
may approach the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrate who shall be the Sub-Divisional Authority for
deciding the disputes under farming agreements.
(2) On receipt of a dispute under sub-section (1), the Sub-Divisional Authority may, if—
(a) the farming agreement did not provide for conciliation process, constitute a conciliation board
for bringing about settlement of such dispute; or
(b) the parties failed to settle their dispute through conciliation process, decide the dispute in a
summary manner within thirty days from the date of receipt of such dispute, after giving the parties a
reasonable opportunity of being heard and pass an order for recovery of the amount under dispute,
with such penalty and interest, as it deems fit, subject to the following conditions, namely:—
(i) where the Sponsor fails to make payment of the amount due to the farmer, such penalty
may extend to one and half times the amount due;
(ii) where the order is against the farmer for recovery of the amount due to the Sponsor on
account of any advance payment or cost of inputs, as per terms of farming agreement, such
amount shall not exceed the actual cost incurred by the Sponsor;
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(iii) where the farming agreement in dispute is in contravention of the provisions of this Act,
or default by the farmer is due to force majeure, then, no order for recovery of amount shall be
passed against the farmer.
(3) Every order passed by the Sub-Divisional Authority under this section shall have same force as a
decree of a civil court and be enforceable in the same manner as that of a decree under the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), unless an appeal is preferred under sub-section (4).
(4) Any party aggrieved by the order of the Sub-Divisional Authority may prefer an appeal to the
Appellate Authority, which shall be presided over by the Collector or Additional Collector nominated by
the Collector, within thirty days from the date of such order.
(5) The Appellate Authority shall dispose of the appeal within thirty days.
(6) Every order passed by the Appellant Authority under this section shall have same force as a
decree of a civil court and be enforceable in the same manner as that of a decree under the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908).
(7) The amount payable under any order passed by the Sub-Divisional Authority or the Appellant
Authority, as the case may be, may be recovered as arrears of land revenue.
(8) The Sub-Divisional Authority or the Appellate Authority shall, while deciding disputes under this
section, have all the powers of a civil court for the purposes of taking evidence on oath, enforcing the
attendance of witnesses, compelling the discovery and production of documents and material objects and
for such other purposes as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
(9) The manner and procedure for filing a petition or an application before the Sub-Divisional
Authority and an appeal before the Appellate Authority shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central
Government.
15. No action for recovery of dues against farmer’s land.—Notwithstanding anything contained in
section 14, no action for recovery of any amount due in pursuance of an order passed under that section,
shall be initiated against the agricultural land of the farmer.