ZUARI AGRO CHEMICALS LTD. vs P.MALLA REDDY

OPPOSITE Party No. 2 in O.P. No. 211/1995 on the file of District Consumer Forum, Nizamabad is the appellant.

THE case of the complainant is that he purchased sunflower seeds from opposite party No. 1 vide Receipt Nos. 127 dated 5.1.1994 and 134 dated 7.11.1994 and paid a sum of Rs. 515/- to the first opposite party but the seed is found to be defective and of inferior quality, hence he filed the complaint. The District Forum found that there is deficiency in service on the part of the appellant and directed it to pay a sum of Rs. 18,000/- towards loss of sunflower crop together with compensation of Rs. 5,000/- and costs of Rs. 500/-. Hence the appeal.

The appellant denies purchase of sunflower seeds from the first opposite party and raising the crop. It is further stated that the loss of the crop may be due to several factors like defective farm management, improper irrigation facilities, unsuitability of the soil, failure to apply fertilizers in time etc. However, the first opposite party admitted that he is the dealer but it has not manufactured or processed the seed. He received the seeds in question from the company in packed sealed packets with tags and he sold the same as it is in packets, hence he is not liable.

P.W. 2 is the Agricultural Officer. He inspected the field on 28.2.1995 and found multiple flowers to the plants numbering 10-13, normally one plant should have only one flower but P.W. 2 noticed 10 to 13 flowers per plant. He also denied that either more fertilizers or less so also more or less water should result in this multiple flowers. He also denied improper farm management. P.W. 3, V.A.O. also visited the field and noticed multiple flower buds. He also stated that the crop is defective due to the seed. From this evidence, the District Forum came to the conclusion that there is failure of crop and the same has to be attributed to the defect in the seed only. As the first opposite party is only a dealer, who sold the seed in sealed packets as supplied to him, the District Forum held that he is not answerable for any deficiency in service. But so far as the appellant is concerned, since it is the manufacturer, the District Forum found that as per the evidence, the normal yield will be 10 quintals per acre but the complainant realised about 6 quintals only, as such he is entitled for 15 quintals of loss of sunflower seed at the rate of Rs. 1,200/- per quintal and accordingly directed payment of Rs. 18,000/- for 2 acres, Rs. 5,000/- towards compensation and costs of Rs. 500/-. This order in our view does not suffer from any infirmity. The appeal, therefore, fails and is accordingly dismissed. Appeal dismissed.