A seed-related company often the purpose of producing foundation and other commercial seeds, an arrangement is entered between farmers and seed companies regarding the sale and buyback. This litigation by farmers is often made before Consumer Forums, for grievance redressal, this particular judgment by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India defines whether such arrangement would be classified as “Commercial Purpose” within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act.
Important Paragraphs
The complainant (the Respondent herein) is a small landholder who responded to the advertisements issued by the Appellant, a seed company, in 2003, regarding buyback of safed musli, a medicinal crop, at attractive prices. She entered into a tripartite agreement dated 15.01.2004 with the Appellant and its franchisee M/s Herbz India. As per the agreement, the Respondent purchased 750 kgs of wet musli for sowing from the Appellant, at the rate of Rs. 400/- per kg, and cultivated the same in her land. The Appellant was to buy back the produce at a minimum price of Rs. 1,000/- per kg from the Respondent. The Respondent lodged a consumer complaint alleging negligence and breach of contract on the part of the Appellant on the ground that the Appellant failed to buy back her produce, leading to the destruction of the greater part of the crop.
[…]
the Appellant,[…], argued that the Respondent was not a “consumer” as defined under Section 2(d) of the 1986 Act. Firstly, it was argued that the tripartite agreement envisaged buyback of musli by the Respondent from the Appellant, which amounted to resale, which is excluded from the purview of Section 2(d). Secondly, it was argued that the cultivation and sale of musli by the Respondent was for a commercial purpose and not for the purpose of earning livelihood, and hence excluded from the purview of Section 2(d).
[…]
the Respondent, […], on the other hand, argued that the cultivation of musli was not being done on a commercial level, but was purely on a self-employed basis done by a poor agriculturist for eking out a livelihood, and hence such cultivation did not fall within the meaning of “commercial purpose” under the Explanation to Section 2(d) of the 1986 Act.
[…]
In matters such as the one on hand, the agriculturist buys the foundation seeds from the seed company, or the company itself reaches out and requests the farmers to generate the seeds so that it may market the same. By accepting such an offer, and after purchasing the foundation seeds from the seed company, the agriculturist, with hard labour and sweat, produces seeds to be marketed by the seed company. Thus, the agriculturist is not reselling any product, but grows his own product by utilizing the foundation seeds. There cannot be any dispute that the agriculturist has to sell his product in the open market or to the seed company, as the case may be, in order to eke out his livelihood. In other words, the agriculturist sustains himself by selling his product. This cannot be termed as resale or activity in furtherance of a “commercial purpose” bringing him out of the purview of the definition of “consumer” under Section 2(d). Rather, it is purely for the purpose of earning his livelihood by means of self- employment
[…]
an agreement for buyback by the seed company of the crop grown by a farmer cannot be regarded as a resale transaction, and he cannot be brought out of the scope of being a “consumer” under the 1986 Act only on such ground. Thus, even in the instant case, the fact that there was a buyback agreement for the musli crop would not bring the Respondent outside the purview of the definition of “consumer” by rendering the buyback arrangement a resale transaction or being for a commercial purpose. We hasten to emphasise that the fact situation herein diverges from Madhusudan to the extent that in the instant case, the Respondent had the freedom to sell her produce on the open market if she was able to obtain a better price. However, as we have already mentioned, in our opinion, this aspect would not take away from the conclusion that the Respondent had entered into an agreement for growing the musli crop for the purpose of earning a livelihood, since an agriculturist would always have to sell his produce in order to earn his livelihood.
[…]
Most Indian farmers own only small landholdings, which require expensive inputs such as irrigation, electricity, seeds, fertilizer, and pesticide, but do not generate sufficient output to cover the costs of the same. Though the sway of seed companies over small farmers in India is, as of now, minimal, when agriculturists with such small landholdings do enter into agreements to grow crops on terms dictated by seed companies, it is in the hope of earning some profit that would offset the cost of their inputs and generate some income for the household. Often, the crops require the intensive usage of labour and mechanization. Therefore, agreements such as the one in the instant case often guarantee technical and financial assistance to the farmer in order to be able to discharge his end of the deal. Needless to say, the success or failure of the crop would make or break the income of the farmer for the entire season. This can result in situations where small and medium scale farmers find themselves trapped in contracts where they buy expensive seeds which turn out to be defective, resulting in a failed season and severe financial hardship. The problem of indebtedness further worsens the plight of the farmer, and, all too often, manifests in the tragedy of suicide. Farmer suicides are indeed a systemic issue that has persisted, and perhaps worsened, over the last few decades. 16.3 The summary redressal available to the farmer under the 1986 Act may go a small but crucial way to provide instant relief in a sector which is already facing stress on several counts. Undoubtedly, farmers faced with grievances against seed companies, may, in suitable cases, opt for other remedies such as a civil suit, relief under the Seeds Act, 1966 (the reform of which has been under process for some time), and so on. But excluding such farmers from the purview of the 1986 Act would be a complete mockery of the object and purpose of the statute.
[…]
We are alarmed by the growing trend amongst seed companies of engaging in frivolous litigation with farmers, virtually defeating the purpose of speedy redressal envisaged under 1986 Act. In the instant case, the Appellant contested the farmers’ claims before consumer fora on the preliminary point of maintainability right up to this Court, compelling small agriculturists such as the Respondents to spend unnecessarily on litigation in order to secure relief for themselves, amounting to a sum which probably exceeds even the quantum of relief claimed. This tendency to resist even the smallest of claims on any ground possible, by exploiting the relatively greater capacity of seed companies to litigate for long periods of time, amounts to little more than harassment of agriculturists. To discourage such conduct in the future by the Appellant as well as other seed corporations, we deem it fit to impose costs on the Appellant.
For more details contact @Advocate Prakhar Gupta