RAMDHARI YADAV & ANR Vs. BRANCH MANAGER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner/complainant namely Ramdhari Yadav alongwith his brother namely Ramsevak Yadav obtained a loan of Rs.3,00,000/- from the respondent for purchase of a tractor. They defaulted in timely repayment of the said loan. The Government, in order to mitigate the difficulties being faced by the farmers in repayment of the loans taken by them came out with a scheme known as Agricultural Debt Waiver & Debt Relief Scheme, 2008. In the said scheme, the farmers were divided into three categories, namely 'marginal farmers', 'small farmers' and 'other farmers'. Clause 3.6 of the scheme which defines the terms 'small farmers' reads as under:

(2.) The District Forum having ruled in favour of the complainant, the respondent bank approached the concerned State Commission by way of an appeal. Vide impugned order dated 02.05.2017, the State Commission allowed the said appeal and consequently dismissed the complaint. Being aggrieved, the petitioner/complainant is before this Commission by way of this revision petition.

(3.) The first question which arises for consideration in this petition is as to whether the petitioner was a marginal farmer within the meaning of clause 3.6 of the debt waiver scheme. It would be seen from the aforesaid clause that the emphasis of the scheme is upon the extent of the land which a farmer was cultivating. If the land under his cultivation was more than one hectares but not more than two hectares, he was to be treated as a small farmer. The learned counsel for the respondent bank has drawn my attention to the letter dated 10.11.2004 addressed jointly by the petitioner and his brother to the Manager, Allahabad Bank. The English translation of the said letter, to the extent it is relevant, reads as under: