Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court has suspended orders passed by district agriculture officer cancelling the licences of several traders of Khammam who were charged with selling spurious tomato seeds to farmers.
Justice S.V. Bhatt granted the interim order while dealing with petitions by Ushasree Traders and others, alleging that the officer cancelled the licences without issuing any notice seeking explanation.
They told the court that their licences were cancelled based on a laboratory report which analysed leaves grown on plants that had sprouted after the allegedly spurious seeds were used by farmers.
After perusing the rule position, the judge suspended the orders of the agriculture officers and directed the traders to give an undertaking to the officer that they will henceforth only sell seeds certified by the competent authority and from an authorised company.
