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3. The appellant has questioned the orders of the National Commission, which also implies its challenge to the orders of the State Commission and the District Forums mainly on the following grounds:

(a) the District Forums did not have the jurisdiction to entertain complaints filed by the respondents because the issues relating to the quality of seeds are governed by the provisions contained in the  Seeds Act, 1966 (for short, `the Seeds Act') and any complaint about the sale or supply of defective seeds can be filed only under the Seeds Act and not under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (for short, `the Consumer Act').

9. We may also mention that in none of these cases, the appellant had offered to produce samples of the variety of the seeds sold/supplied to the respondents and made a prayer before the District Forum that the same may be got tested/analysed in an appropriate laboratory.

10.Learned counsel for the appellant argued that the impugned orders are liable to be set aside because the District Forums did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the complaints filed by the respondents and the State and National Commissions committed grave error by brushing aside the appellant's objections to the maintainability of the complaints. Learned counsel emphasized that the Seeds Act is a special legislation enacted for regulating the quality of seeds and if the respondents had any grievance about the quality of the seeds then the only remedy available to them  was to either file an application under Section 10 of the Seeds Act or to approach the concerned Seed Inspectors for taking action under Section 19 read with Section 21 of that Act. They further argued that even if the complaints filed by the respondents under the Consumer Act are held to be maintainable, the finding recorded by the District Forums that the seeds sold/supplied by the appellant were defective is liable to be set aside because the procedure prescribed under Section 13(1)(c) of the Consumer Act was not followed. Learned counsel relied upon Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and argued that in view of the arbitration clause contained in the agreements entered between the appellant and the growers, the latter could have applied for arbitration and the Consumer Forums should have non-suited them in view of Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. An ancillary argument made by the learned counsel is that the growers of seeds cannot be treated as `consumer' within the meaning of Section 2(d) because they had purchased seeds for commercial purpose.

11.Learned counsel for the respondents supported the impugned orders and argued that the District Forums did not commit any illegality by entertaining the complaints filed under the Consumer Act because the Seeds Act and the Rules framed thereunder do not contain any provision for compensating a farmer whose crop is lost or who does not get the expected yield if the seeds sold/supplied by the appellant are defective. Learned counsel submitted that the remedy available under the Consumer Act is in addition to other remedies available to a consumer and the complaints filed by the respondents under that Act cannot be held as barred merely because they could also approach the Seed Inspector for taking action under Section 19 read with Section 21 of the Seeds Act. Learned counsel further argued that the growers of seeds are covered by the definition of consumer because they had agreed to undertake cultivation of seeds on behalf of the appellant for earning livelihood. On the issue of non compliance of Section 13(1)(c) of the Consumer Act, learned counsel submitted that the District Forums had rightly relied upon  the reports of the Court Commissioners and other evidence for recording findings that the seeds sold/supplied by the appellant were defective. Learned counsel emphasized that the respondents had used the entire quantity of seeds purchased by them for sowing and they had not retained samples by anticipating loss of crop or less yield. Learned counsel pointed out that the Commissioners had inspected the fields of the respondents and recorded categorical findings that the farmers had suffered losses because the seeds supplied by the appellant were defective and the District Forums did not commit any illegality by relying upon their reports. Learned counsel also submitted that the appellant could have produced samples of the seeds sold/supplied to the respondents and get them tested to prove that the same were not defective, but no such step was taken by it.

23.It can thus be said that in the context of farmers/growers and other consumer of seeds, the Seeds Act is a special legislation insofar as the provisions contained therein ensure that those engaged in agriculture and horticulture get quality seeds and any person who violates the provisions of the Act and/or the Rules is brought before the law and punished. However, there is no provision in that  Act and the Rules framed thereunder for compensating the farmers etc. who may suffer adversely due to loss of crop or deficient yield on account of defective seeds supplied by a person authorised to sell the seeds. That apart, there is nothing in the Seeds Act and the Rules which may give an indication that the provisions of the Consumer Act are not available to the farmers who are otherwise covered by the wide definition of `consumer' under Section 2(d) of the Consumer Act. As a matter of fact, any attempt to exclude the farmers from the ambit of the Consumer Act by implication will make that Act vulnerable to an attack of unconstitutionality on the ground of discrimination and there is no reason why the provisions of the Consumer Act should be so interpreted.