Vadodara: After 22 years, a farmer from Karjan will receive a compensation of Rs 50,000 along with 7% interest for his crop that was damaged due to adulterated pesticides.Kaushik Bhatt, who lives at Saniyad village in Karjan taluka, had suffered a loss of Rs 3.9 lakh in 1996 after he sprinkled the pesticides purchased from Jai Jalaram Traders in the city. After suffering losses, Bhatt sent notices to the trader and the manufacturer Bayer India Ltd in November 1996. Later, he got a sample of the pesticides which remain unused at a private laboratory in Vadodara for which he even invited the trader and the manufacturer to remain present. But they did not remain present.The test revealed that the pesticides were adulterated and of poor quality following which Bhatt approached district consumer forum demanding compensation for losses. After hearing both the parties, the forum passed an order in September 2006 awarding him compensation of Rs 80,000 along with an interest of 6%. The trader and manufacturer challenged the order in state commission which upheld the forum’s order.The state commission was further challenged at National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The national commission in 2015 ordered that the case be heard again at the district forum again where the trader and manufacturer can cross-examine the expert who tested the pesticides sample and Bhatt can submit an affidavit of the test report.The forum once again heard the case and recently passed an order revising the compensation amount to Rs 50,000 with 7% interest to be counted from the time Bhatt filed the case in 1997.“When the forum again started hearing the case only for cross-examination, the opponents argued that Bhatt did not get the test done at government lab in Junagadh and they were producing their own report. But we argued that the national commission had ordered rehearing of the case only for cross-examination of the expert and submission of affidavit which were considered by the forum,” said Bhatt’s advocate Akhil Dave.

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