NUZIVEEDU SEEDS PVT LTD Vs. PROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETY AND FARMERS RIGHTS AUTHORITY REP BY ITS REGISTRAR NATIONAL ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES OPP DPS MARG NEW DELHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition is instituted by a company involved in seed production. A writ of mandamus is solicited for declaring the advertisement of the 2nd respondents applications in respect of MRC-7918, MRC-7041 BGII and MRC-7160 varieties in the "Plant Variety Journal of India" without following the due procedure specified under the provisions contained in Sections 19, 20, 21 read with Rule 29 and 30 of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001 as illegal and unconstitutional and for other allied reliefs.

(2.) THE 2nd respondent is also a seed manufacturing company whose applications for registration, have been advertised by the 1st respondent authority constituted in terms of the aforesaid Act. On behalf of the 2nd respondent, M/s. Lakshmi Kumaran & Sridharan, who entered appearance, circulated a letter to the Registry on 7.2.2012, that the issue raised in this writ petition is covered by the judgment rendered by a Division Bench on 24.1.2012 in Writ Appeal No. 651 of 2010 and batch of cases. That is how the matter came to be listed for judgment.

(3.) IT will be appropriate at this stage to notice that previously the same writ petitioner filed three different writ petitions bearing Nos. 8031 of 2010, 16892 of 2010 and 20326 of 2010 against the same respondents challenging the validity of similar advertisements on identical grounds. WP NO. 8031 of 2010 was dismissed by this court by its judgment dated 23.8.2010 on the ground that this court does not have territorial jurisdiction. Whereas WP Nos. 16892 of 2010 and 20326 of 2010 were decided by a common order passed on 1.7.2011 holding that this court does not have territorial jurisdiction to decide the dispute raised in the said writ petitions. The present writ petitioner herein has preferred WA No. 651 of 2010 challenging the correctness of the judgment and order dated 23.8.2010 rendered in WP No. 8031 of 2010. Similarly, WA Nos. 537 and 539 of 2011 are directed against the common judgment rendered on 1.7.2011 in WP Nos. 16892 of 2010 and 20326 of 2010 respectively. IT will also be appropriate to notice that along with these three writ appeals, WP No. 27663 of 2010 was also heard, in view of similarity of contentions, by a Division Bench comprising of My Lord Honble the Chief Justice and Honble Sri Justice P.V.Sanjay Kumar. The Division Bench by its judgment rendered on 24.1.2012 dismissed all the four cases. Hence, the 2nd respondent has circulated the aforementioned letter suggesting that the present writ petition should also be disposed of on the same terms as in WA No. 651 of 2010 and batch of cases which were disposed of by the Division Bench.