Belagavi: The Dharwad Bench of the Karnataka high court on Monday upheld the agriculture department’s decision to cancel the trade license of the private Jai Kisan Wholesale Vegetable Market Association in Belagavi. The association’s petition challenging the cancellation was dismissed at the preliminary stage.The director of agricultural marketing revoked the license on Sept 15, citing serious violations of the Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1966. A previous challenge before a single-judge bench was also rejected.Despite this, the association approached the high court’s division bench without disclosing a crucial fact — that 120 of its members had already filed an appeal before the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT). When advocate Nitin Bolbandi produced documents revealing this non-disclosure, the bench comprising Justice SG Pandit and Justice Geetha KB took strong exception and dismissed the petition, affirming the department’s order.Investigations earlier uncovered multiple irregularities at the private market. The Belagavi Urban Development Authority (Buda) Commissioner cancelled the land-use conversion granted to Jai Kisan Market after finding illegal activities on the premises. Following the withdrawal of land-use approval, the director of agricultural marketing formally terminated the market’s trade licence.Officials noted that the private market’s operations adversely impacted the fully equipped state-run vegetable market established inside the APMC premises in 2019. With the high court’s latest ruling, the Jai Kisan Market’s trade licence stands cancelled, and no form of commercial activity is permitted at the site.
