Farmer sues two traders for delay in payment under new farm laws, recovers dues: Report

While the recently passed farm laws have unleashed protests across Punjab and Haryana, a maize farmer from Maharashtra has invoked the laws and sued two traders for not paying the money owed to him, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

The maize farmer, Jitendra Bhoi, had to take recourse to the law to force the two traders to clear an outstanding bill of  Rs 2.85 lakh. 

The two traders, Subhash Vani and Arun Vani, from an adjoining village had bought 270.59 quintals maize at the rate of Rs 1,240 per quintal on July 19 from Bhoi. The total transaction was valued at Rs 3,32,617 according to Bhoi’s complaint before the subdivisional magistrate of Pansemal tehsil.

The produce was picked up and a token payment of Rs 25,000 was made with a promise that the rest will be paid within 15 days.  

However, after a delay of four months, Bhoi approached the authorities. “A clerk I know in the local market alerted me to this provision in the new laws brought by the government,” he told the publication. 

According to a new provision in the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act passed in September, this year, buyers are compelled to pay cultivators within three days of the transaction. 

Following Bhoi’s complaint, authorities traced the traders and summoned them on October 6 where they faced prospects of the arrest. 

“After studying the case, listening to the farmer, and going through documents, it has been ordered by me that the buyers must make immediate payments owed to the farmer,” the magistrate’s closure report said.

Following this, the traders were forced to renegotiate the total pending amount to slightly less than initially agreed and pay the amount in two instalments.