New bill seeks life term for food hoarders

A new draft law was tabled in Parliament on Thursday, seeking to penalise food hoarding, unauthorised sales from government stocks, deliberate misclassification of approved food commodity types, and manipulation of food constituents with life term.

There would be newly incorporated special food courts to conduct trials under the proposed law, while some mobile courts would also assist in proceedings.

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder placed the bill and it was sent to the parliamentary standing committee on the food ministry for submitting a scrutiny report within five days.

The proposed law would abolish the Food (Special Courts) Act of 1956, and the Foodgrains Supply (Prevention and Prejudicial Activity) Ordinance, 1979. The bill defines food items as all types of granular items like rice, paddy, wheat, flour, corn etc.

The bill states that anyone stockpiling food items beyond the government-mandated limit or violating any other stockpiling regulation would face life imprisonment or a maximum of 14 years in prison as well as fines. 

However, if the accused can prove the hoarding was not profit-driven or aimed at any other benefit, he or she can reduce the punishment to maximum three-month imprisonment and fines. Despite leaving a potentially unintended impact, the crime would be considered non-bailable, however.

The bill also considers it a crime to make food items look fresher by polishing them or mixing an older supply with other supplies. 

It would also be criminal to collect food items from government stocks while undertaking government food collection tasks. The punishment for these acts would be maximum two-year imprisonment or Tk10 lakh fines or both.

Similar penalties would be imposed on those selling government food stocks without getting approval signs from the Directorate General of Food. Transfer, marketing or purchase of government stocks without the mentioned approval signs would bring about similar punishments.

Anyone making, printing or distributing false statements on production, stockpiling, transfer, transportation, delivery, distribution and marketing of food items would face five-year imprisonment or Tk15 lakh fine or both.

If anyone labels a sub-genus or species under a foodgrain family as a separate entity with new or imaginative names, it would be considered a crime the punishment for which would be a two-year jail term or a minimum Tk10 lakh fine or both.

Partial or complete alteration or displacement of natural constituents of any given food commodity during production or marketing stages would also be penalised with a two-year sentence or Tk10 lakh fine or both. 

Similar punishments would be reserved for conducting business activities in these fields without a licence or with an expired one.