Jabalpur High Court Sets Aside Single Judge Order On Relief To Farmers For MSP

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Principal bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur has ruled that illiterate farmers cannot be deprived of their rightful Minimum Support Price (MSP) dues merely because they approached the wrong legal consumers forum on the advice of counsel, while extending to them the same relief that had already been granted to similarly placed cultivators in earlier cases.

The Division Bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal passed the order setting aside single bench order. Writ appeals were filled for claims for unpaid MSP amounts for agricultural produce sold under the State’s procurement scheme.

The court was dealing with multiple appeals raising a common issue. One of the appeals, filed by Abhishek Singh Patel and others, challenged an order of a single judge dismissing their writ petition on the ground that they had earlier approached the District Consumer Redressal Forum seeking similar relief.

The remaining appeals were filed by the State of Madhya Pradesh against orders directing payment of the balance MSP to farmers along with interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date of sale until actual payment.

Considering the facts of the present case, the Division Bench accepted the submission that the farmers had wrongly invoked the jurisdiction of the Consumer Forum. However, it found that such an error could not be held against them, particularly when the forum lacked jurisdiction to entertain the dispute in the first place.

The court observed, “These appellants are illiterate farmers. Under the wrong advice, they approached the consumer forum.” It further held that “now they cannot be compelled to approach the appellate forum, because admittedly, the consumer forum has no jurisdiction in this matter.”