Navkar Hybrid Seeds Pvt. Ltd., Thr. Authorized Representative, Keyur Shah And ANR. v. The State Of Maharashtra, Thr. Secretary, Dept. Of Agriculture, Mumbai And ANR.
2026:BHC-NAG:3678-DB 127-WP-1726-2026.odt 1/4
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
WRIT PETITION NO. 1726 OF 2026 NAVKAR HYBRID SEEDS PVT. LTD., THR. AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE, KEYUR SHAH AND ANR.
Vs.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA, THR. SECRETARY, DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE, MUMBAI AND ANR.
__________________________________________________________________________ Office Notes, Office Memoramda of Coram, appearances, Court's orders of directions Court's or Judge's orders.
and Registrar's Orders.
Mr. Madhur Deo, Advocate for the Petitioners. Mr. N. S. Rao, AGP for Respondent Nos.1 and 2/State. CORAM : ANIL S. KILOR AND RAJ D. WAKODE, JJ. DATE : 4 th MARCH, 2026.
1.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioners.
2.
The petitioner No.1- Company is engaged in manufacturing of various seeds and is possessing dealer license issued by the Government of Gujarat under the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983.
3.
The aforesaid license is at record page No.14- AnnexureA. The said license is valid up to 30th January 2027. The seeds which are produced by petitioner No.1- Company are sold through the State of Maharashtra and petitioner No.2 is one
127-WP-1726-2026.odt 2/4 such dealer of petitioner No.1. The petitioner No.2 also possesses the dealer license issued by the Government of Maharashtra, which is at record page No.16 Annexure- B. The said license is also valid till 26th March 2027. 4.
The contention is that respondent No.2- Inspector, Seeds, Fertilizers, Insecticides, Taluka Agriculture Office Khamgaon, District. Buldhana on 9th January 2026 conducted a raid and seized the stock of the groundnut seeds from the premises of petitioner No.2 on the ground that petitioner No.2 did not have necessary permission for possessing such groundnut seeds and the valid license.
5.
Learned counsel for the petitioners after inviting our attention to the license of petitioner No.1 at record page No.14 and petitioner No.2 at record page No.16, has further invited our attention to the Office Memorandum dated 29th April 2016 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, which provides that once license is issued by the Government of a particular State, a separate dealer license is not required for the another State. In view said Office Memorandum dated 29th April 2016, in the present case,
127-WP-1726-2026.odt 3/4 petitioner No.1 has been issued a valid dealer license by the Government of Gujarat and therefore, no separate dealer license is required for the State of Maharashtra. 6.
In view of the above, the seizure of the stock of petitioner No.2 in view of the panchnama dated 9th January 2026 at record page No.18 is prima facie unsustainable in the eyes of law.
7.
In view of the above, we dispose of the present writ petition with a direction to petitioner No.2 to treat the present writ petition as a representation for the release of the stock of groundnut seeds seized on 9th January 2026 from the premises of petitioner No.2 within a stipulated period of one week from the date of production of copy of order of this Court. 8.
The petitioners to appear before respondent no.2 to produce the copy of order of this Court along with copy of the present writ petition on 6th March 2026.
9.
Respondent No.2 shall decide the aforesaid representation within a further period of one week i.e., till 13th March 2026 in accordance with law and more specifically, the
127-WP-1726-2026.odt 4/4 Office Memorandum dated 29th April 2016 issued by Government of India, which is at record page No.20Annexure- D. 10.
The decision taken thereupon shall be communicated to petitioners within a period of one week thereafter. 11.
The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of. (RAJ D. WAKODE, J.) (ANIL S. KILOR, J.) MJ Jadhav