The Dharwad bench of the High Court on Thursday (Sept 25) reserved its verdict in the Jai Kisan Vegetable Market case after a three-hour hearing, where lawyers for both sides presented strong arguments. The judgment will be announced soon, and traders as well as farmers are keenly awaiting the outcome.
The case began after the Director of Agricultural Marketing cancelled the traders’ licence, and BUDA CANCELLED the land use change order granted to Jai Kisan Vegetable Market, following which traders’ licenses were revoked and restrictions imposed by the district administration. This severely impacted trading activity, prompting Jai Kisan traders.
Senior counsel Ananth Mandagi, Adv Nitin Bolabandi and Shobha H argued for the farmers opposing the Jaikisan market
The issue has created a split among farmers.
- Pro-Jai Kisan Group: Supports continuing the market, arguing that it enables direct farmer-to-trader dealings, reduces middlemen, and ensures price transparency. They have staged protests at the district and taluka level, demanding government support to keep the market open.
- Pro-APMC Group: Opposes Jai Kisan, alleging irregularities and exploitation under its operations. They insist that APMC is the only legal platform for vegetable trading and have urged the government to cancel Jai Kisan’s license immediately.
If intermediaries are to be removed and people are getting vegetables at cheap rates such ideas should be supported, in APMC there are hundreds of middle men by the time it reaches the consumer the products rate are sky rocketed
Let there be a level playing field for everyone. Restrictions, cancellation of licence, reverting land use, these all things amounts to discrimination against fair competation. Let both markets run parellely and we’ll see whoever is competitive and farmer friendly will strive…