This C.C coming on before us for final hearing, on 23-7-2008 in the presence of Sri. K.Ravidranath, Advocate for Complainant, and of Smt.P.Padmavathi, Advocate for the opposite party No-1 &2, ; upon perusing the material papers on record; upon hearing arguments, and having stood over for consideration, this Forum passed the following:-
ORDER
(Per Smt.V.Vijaya Rekha, Member )
1. This complaint is filed under section 12(1) of the Consumer Protection Act,1986 with the following averments;
2. The complainant is an agriculturist, resident of Kaikondaigudem(v), of Khammam District and intends to cultivate Black Gram in his land in Sy.No.320 in an extent of Ac.1-00gts., and purchased Nirmal-7(Vishvas) Black Gram Seeds from the opposite party No-1 on 8-11-2006 vide receipt No.69/88, for Rs.500/- and raised the nursery in the month of November,2006 by investing large amounts for cultivation, manure and applied pesticides and fertilizers as per the advises given by the A.O. , Concerned and the crop was grown up to a height of nearly 1 feet without flowering and after noticing the same the complainant approached A.O. concerned and the A.O. came to the field, opined that the crop was damaged due to the defective seeds and the complainant further stated that by taking all precautions and by following the procedure prescribed by the opposite parties, he raised the crop, the complainant further stated that the opposite parties assured that the crop will give 6 quintals per acre, but there is no yielding and he sustained loss of Rs.20,000/- and as such he approached the Forum for redressal. The complainant mentioned that he spent an amount of Rs.7,000/- for purchasing of seeds, ploughing and for manure and fertilizers and as such the complainant claimed Rs.27,000/- towards damages of Black gram crop and Rs.25,000/- towards damages.
3. Along with the complaint, the complainant filed affidavit and also filed (i) cash bill, dated 8-11-2006 for Rs.500/- issued by the opposite party No-1.
4. After receipt of notice, the opposite parties appeared through their counsel and filed counter by denying the allegations made in the complaint.
5. In the counter, the opposite parties admitted that the complainant purchased Black Gram seeds from the opposite party No-1 and denied all the allegations, and contended that there is no defect in the quality of seeds and the seeds supplied by the opposite parties were thoroughly tested like QCL and GOT tests and after getting satisfactory result of both tests, the product will be release in the market as such there is no defect in the seeds. The opposite parties further stated that proper growth of the crop and yielding must be depends upon various factors like soil fertility, management practices, plant protection methods, impact of nature, pest and diseases control methods and irrigation sources, as such nothing could be attributed to the genuineness of the seeds and the opposite parties also stated that stunting of stems of the plants is due to lack of proper care and also stated that the plant population of the said crop was good, as such there is no defect in the seeds. The opposite parties also mentioned that due to heavy infestation and attacking of pests caused dropping of flowers and less yielding as such there is no responsibility on the part of opposite parties and prayed to dismiss the complaint.
6. The complainant filed a petition to appoint an Advocate/Commissioner to assess the damages of the crop, accordingly this Forum appointed an Advocate/Commissioner as per I.A. No.273/2007 and directed the Advocate/Commissioner to assess the damage of the crop and send the seed samples to an appropriate laboratory for analysis with the help of A.O. concerned, In fact neither the Commissioner/Advocate nor the A.O. did not file any report to that effect.
7. In view of the above submissions made by both the parties, now the point for consideration is whether the complainant is entitled to any relief as prayed or not.
8. As seen from the above averments there is no dispute regarding the purchase of Nirmal-7(Vishvas) Black Gram Seeds from the opposite party No-1 on 8-11-2006 and as per the complaint after growing the nursery bed i.e. seedlings, the plants were planted in the field of complainant after taking all the precautions and by following all the procedures, and it is the case of the complainant that the crop was grown up to a height of nearly 1 feet and as there is no flowering, he approached the A.O. concerned and further alleged that the A.O., who inspected the field, opined that due to defect in the seeds the flowering was not found and as such the complainant seeks redressal from the opposite parties and it is the case of the opposite parties that there is no defect in the seeds supplied by them and the alleged damage was due to lack of proper care, seasonal conditions and pest and disease control methods, which were caused heavy infestation of insects and pests caused dropping of flowers and ultimately affected the yielding and prayed to dismiss the complaint. In view of the above versions and it is clear that the complainant who filed the complaint only basing on the allegation, that the Black Gram seeds sold by the opposite parties were defective as such he sustained entire crop loss without any yielding, in support of his allegation the complainant filed purchase receipt dated 8-11-2006, except to that he did not choose to take any steps to prove his allegations, moreover the Commissioner/advocate or the A.O. or H.O. who collected the sample for analysis, did not furnish the analysis report, and in the absence of scientific analysis report regarding the quality of seeds, this Forum cannot come to a conclusion regarding the quality of seeds and as such this point is answered accordingly against the complainant by holding that the complainant is not entitled to any relief as prayed.
9. In the result the C.C. is dismissed. No costs.
Typed to my dictation, Corrected and pronounced by us, in this Forum on this 5th day of August, 2008.
President Member Member
District Consumers Forum, Khammam
APPENDIX OF EVIDENCE
-Nil-
President Member Member District Consumers Forum, Khammam
