THE GOAN NETWORK
BELAGAVI
The Jai Kisan Wholesale Vegetable Merchants Association, Belagavi, which supplies vegetables to Goa, has received significant legal relief after the Karnataka High Court’s Division Bench dismissed a petition challenging an earlier order passed by a single-judge bench.
The development is significant for Belagavi’s wholesale vegetable trade, which plays an important role in supplying fresh produce to neighbouring Goa.
However, the wider implications of the court’s order for vegetable supplies to Goa would depend on the specific issues and directions covered by the original judgment.
The issue began when the Jai Kisan Wholesale Vegetable Market in Belagavi was ordered to close in September 2025 after the Department of Agricultural Marketing cancelled its operating licence, citing alleged violations of licence conditions and concerns over farmers’ interests.
The decision followed complaints from farmers’ organisations and inspections by government officials. Authorities reportedly found irregularities in the market’s functioning, including concerns that vegetable transactions were being conducted through private agreements rather than the prescribed auction system.
The Belagavi Urban Development Authority had also revoked the market’s land-use permission in August 2025. The closure order came amid a prolonged dispute between supporters of the private market and farmer leaders demanding the restoration of trading at the government-run Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) yard.
The APMC market had remained shut for around three-and-a-half years following the establishment of the private Jai Kisan market. After protests by farmers and intervention by district authorities, trading resumed at the APMC yard in September 2025.
According to a statement issued by the Jai Kisan Wholesale Vegetable Merchants Association, the Division Bench dismissed the challenge filed by Siddagouda Modagi and Chunnappa Pujari on October 16.
Modagi and Pujari had approached the Division Bench challenging the order passed by the single-judge bench. Following a hearing, the court dismissed their petition, marking an important development in the association’s ongoing legal battle.
