The Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court has upheld the Agriculture Department’s order cancelling the trade licence of the private Jai Kisan Wholesale Vegetable Market located in Gandhinagar, Belagavi. The association’s petition challenging the decision was dismissed at the preliminary hearing stage.
The Director of Agricultural Marketing had revoked the licence on September 15, citing violations of the Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1966. A previous petition before a single-judge bench had also been rejected.
During the latest hearing, the division bench noted that the association had failed to disclose that 120 of its members had already filed an appeal before the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT). Advocate Nitin Bolbandi placed the relevant documents before the court, after which the bench of Justice S.G. Pandit and Justice Geetha K.B. dismissed the plea and upheld the department’s action.
Investigations had earlier found several irregularities at the private market. The BUDA Commissioner had cancelled the land-use change granted to Jai Kisan Market for illegal activities, following which the Agricultural Marketing Director issued the final licence cancellation.
The private market’s functioning had reportedly impacted the government-run vegetable market built inside the APMC premises in 2019 at a cost of ₹1 crore, with public complaints alleging the presence of a “private market mafia” in the area.
With the High Court’s order, the cancellation of the trade licence now remains in force, and no business activity will be permitted at the site.
