Delhi District Court
Iffco-Mc Crop Science vs Lalganj Lagua Samabay on 13 February, 2023
IN THE COURT OF DISTRICT JUDGE (COMM COURT-2)
SOUTH DISTRICT, SAKET COURTS: NEW DELHI
CS (COMM) 412/2021
IFFCO-MC CROP SCIENCE
PRIVATE LIMITED .........Plaintiff
(Through its authorized representative)
Registered office at IFFCO Sadan,
C-1, District Centre, Saket, Place,
New Delhi - 110017
Corporate office Surendra Jakhar Bhawan
Tower-B, 3rd Floor, Plot No. 3,
Sector-32, Gurugram, Haryana-122001
Versus
Lalganj Lagua Samabay
Krishi Unnayan Samiti Limited ..........Defendant
(Through its Manager - Subhash Mandal)
Village Lalganj, Post Office - Lalganj,
Dalkhola District - Uttam Dinajpur, Darjeeling,
West Bengal - 733201
Mob. No. +91-985-146-7256 (WhatsApp)
GST No. 19AAAAL8909NIZZ
Date of institution : 08.12.2021
Date of arguments : 13.02.2023
Date of judgment : 13.02.2023
JUDGMENT
1. This is a suit for recovery filed u/O XXXVII CPC for recovery of Rs.4,30,959/-.
2. In brief, facts of the case are that the plaintiff is a company, registered under the Companies Act 2013 and is engaged in the business of manufacturing and supplying various agro-chemical products. The defendant is an organization engaged in the business of and/or is a dealer of agrochemical products in Darjeeling, West Bengal and it operates from its office located at Village Lalganj, Post Office Lalganj, Dalkhola, IFFCO CROP SCIENCE PVT LTD VS Lalganj Lagua Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samiti Ltd. {CS(Comm) 412/2021) 1 OF 7 District Uttar Dinajpur, Darjeeling, West Bengal-733201 and that the GST registration number of defendant is 19AAAAL8909NIZZ. It is stated that defendant also operates under business name of 'LALGANJ LAGUA SKUS'.
3. It is pleaded that plaintiff company has had business dealings with the defendant since 2016 and defendant purchased certain agrochemical products in the due course of its business with the plaintiff company. It is stated that defendant made payments in parts over a period of time for the goods purchased and as a result, after the payment on 23.03.2018, an amount of Rs.71/- remained to the credit of the defendant's account, as maintained by plaintiff company.
4. It is stated that on multiple occasions, defendant again bought goods from the plaintiff company and defendant had represented to the plaintiff company that it shall pay the sale price of the goods within the time agreed between the parties. Besides the aforesaid representation, plaintiff company sold the goods to the defendant on 6 occasions and raised the following invoices :-
S. No. Date of Invoice Invoice No. Invoice Amount (INR)
1. 29.03.2018 WB/DG/17/2296 4,11,480/-
2. 08.06.2018 WB/DG/18/320 28,980/-
3. 31.07.2018 WB/DG/18/919 44,100/-
4. 14.08.2018 WB/DG/18/1020 87,300/-
5. 23.08.2018 WB/DG/18/1098 1,33,965/-
6. 30.11.2018 WB/DG/18/2022 3,65,429/-
5. It is stated that as per the terms of the invoices, defendant was obligated to make the payment within the respective credit periods mentioned in the invoices and also, in IFFCO CROP SCIENCE PVT LTD VS Lalganj Lagua Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samiti Ltd. {CS(Comm) 412/2021) 2 OF 7 the event of failure to make the requisite payments within the stipulated time, defendant is contractually obligated to pay an interest, calculated @ 1.5% per month, on the value of the respective invoices. Significantly, the aforementioned invoices constitute written and binding contracts between the parties and it is trite law that when the goods are supplied through bills/invoices on certain terms and conditions duly agreed to between the parties, there is no escape from the conclusion that it amounts to a written contract between the parties. It is stated that defendant duly received the goods and accepted the same without any demur or objections and thus, the defendant has, thereafter, derived benefits from the supplied goods.
6. It is averred that after the sale of goods against Invoice No. 1 to Invoice No. 6, defendant made nine part payments, totaling an amount of Rs.7,83,000/-, details of which are as under :-
S. No. Date of Payment Amount (INR) 1. 14.02.2019 40,000/- 2. 30.03.2019 70,000/- 3. 31.03.2019 70,000/- 4. 31.07.2019 30,000/- 5. 28.08.2019 4,88,000/- 6. 15.05.2020 20,000/- 7. 22.05.2020 15,000/- 8. 08.08.2020 30,000/- 9. 24.08.2020 20,000/-
It is stated that plaintiff company adjusted these part payments and the credit balance of Rs.71/- firstly against the amount due and payable on Invoice 1, and thereafter, against the amounts due and payable on Invoices 2 to 6, in a chronological IFFCO CROP SCIENCE PVT LTD VS Lalganj Lagua Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samiti Ltd. {CS(Comm) 412/2021) 3 OF 7 manner and as a result, the amounts due and payable on Invoices 1 to 5 were completely adjusted, however, the amount due and payable on Invoice 6 was only partially adjusted, and an amount of Rs.2,88,183/- remained outstanding on Invoice 6. It is averred that defendant did not make any payment after the above part payments and as a result, in order to recover its dues, plaintiff company made regular follow-ups with the defendant and consequently, plaintiff company approached the defendant to sign and acknowledge the principal amounts owned by the defendant to plaintiff company. It is stated that on 25.10.2020, defendant issued a duly signed and stamped 'balance confirmation; to the plaintiff company. In the said 'balance confirmation', defendant acknowledged the principal amounts due and payable by the defendant to the plaintiff company, totaling an amount of Rs.2,88,183/-.
It is submitted that despite unequivocally acknowledging and admitting the amount of Rs.2,88,183/- towards the principal amount of the invoices, the defendant did not make any payment. It is submitted that plaintiff company also made regular follow-ups with and issued several reminders to the defendant, however, defendant did not clear its outstanding amounts to the plaintiff company. As a result of such failure, and being aggrieved by the default of the defendant in paying the outstanding dues of the plaintiff company in its entirety, plaintiff company initiated the pre-institution mediation and settlement as mandated u/S 12-A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, for recovering the outstanding amount of Rs.3,98,556/- which comprises the principal amount of Rs.2,88,183/- and an interest of Rs.1,10,374/-, calculated at the rate of 1.5% per month from IFFCO CROP SCIENCE PVT LTD VS Lalganj Lagua Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samiti Ltd. {CS(Comm) 412/2021) 4 OF 7 the respective due dates of the invoices, till 15.03.2021. It is submitted that defendant did not appear before the Mediation Center, resulting in failure of the mediation process.
It is stated that after the failure of aforesaid mediation proceeding, plaintiff company, as part of its internal regular procedure to remind the customers about the payments, approached the defendant, however, defendant, though, did not make any payments to the plaintiff company, but on 07.10.2021, defendant issued another duly signed and stamped 'balance confirmation' to the plaintiff company and in the said 'balance confirmation', defendant again acknowledged the principal amount due and payable by the defendant to the plaintiff company, totaling an amount of Rs.2,88,183/-. It is stated that despite unequivocally admitting its liability towards the principal amount under two duly signed and stamped balance confirmations, defendant has failed to pay the amounts due and payable to the plaintiff company. It is stated that even after the unequivocal acknowledgement and admission towards the principal amount of the invoices, defendant did not make any payment and as a result of such failure and being aggrieved by the default of the defendant in paying the outstanding dues of the plaintiff company in its entirety, plaintiff company has filed the present suit seeking recovery of Rs.4,30,959/-, which comprises the amount of Rs.3,98,556/- as claimed under the Mediation Application Form, and an interest of Rs.44,813/-, calculated at the contractual rate of 1.5% per month, from the date of filing of the Mediation Application Form i.e. 01.04.2021, till the date of filing of this suit. It is stated that plaintiff company claimed interest @ 0.05% per day on the principal amount of the invoice IFFCO CROP SCIENCE PVT LTD VS Lalganj Lagua Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samiti Ltd. {CS(Comm) 412/2021) 5 OF 7 6, firstly from the respective due dates of the invoice 6, till 15.01.2021 (as claimed under Mediation Application Form), and thereafter, from 01.02.2021 i.e. the date of filing of Mediation Application Form, till 15.11.2021.
13. Defendant failed to appear and file appearance within the prescribed statutory period. Ld. counsel for the plaintiff filed affidavit of service alongwith registered post receipt, tracking report, courier receipt and tracking report and certificate u/S 65B of the Evidence Act to show item delivery confirmed on the address of defendant. No appearance has been filed on behalf of defendant despite service till date, therefore, plaintiff is entitled to judgment forthwith.
14. This Court has heard submissions advanced by Ms. Gaurika Sood, Ld. Counsel appearing for plaintiff and has perused the material on record. Plaintiff has filed list of documents as per Order XI Rule 1 of CPC as amended by the First Schedule of the Commercial Court Act 2015. Plaint is supported with the Aadhar Card of AR of the plaintiff company; Mediation Application Form; Non-starter report dated 18.10.2021; Ledger account of the defendant, as maintained by the plaintiff company in its books of accounts; invoices dated 29.03.2018, 08.06.2018, 31.07.2018, 14.08.2018, 23.08.2018 and 30.11.2018; duly signed and stamped 'balance confirmation' issued in the month of October, 2020 and duly signed and stamped 'balance confirmation' dated 07.10.2021. As per terms of the invoices, defendant is liable to pay a sum of Rs.4,30,959/- to the plaintiff company.
Plaintiff has claimed interest @ 18% per annum.
Having regard to the lending rate in the commercial transaction, IFFCO CROP SCIENCE PVT LTD VS Lalganj Lagua Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samiti Ltd. {CS(Comm) 412/2021) 6 OF 7 this Court is of the view that interest @ 12% is reasonable and would serve the ends of restitutive justice. Plaintiff is entitled to the said interest from the date of filing of present suit till the realization of the entire amount.
The present suit was filed on 08.12.2021. In the circumstances noted above, pleader's fee and litigation expenses are assessed as Rs.9,000/- and Court fee deposited by the plaintiff is Rs.6,590/-. This Court finds that plaintiff is entitled to total costs of Rs.15,590/- (inclusive of Court fees).
In the result, a decree is hereby passed in favour of plaintiff and against defendant in the sum of Rs.4,30,959/- alongwith interest @ 12% per annum from the date of filing of present suit till its realization and costs of Rs.15,590/-. Decree sheet be prepared accordingly. Suit stands disposed of. File be consigned to record room.
(Dictated and announced on
13th February, 2023) (VINAY KUMAR KHANNA)
District Judge
(Commercial Court-02)
South District, Saket, New Delhi
IFFCO CROP SCIENCE PVT LTD VS Lalganj Lagua Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samiti Ltd. {CS(Comm) 412/2021) 7 OF 7