Karnataka HC Upholds ₹1.32 Lakh Jaggery-Dues Award To Merchant Against State Agro Corporation

The respondent-plaintiff supplied jaggery to the appellant-defendant between 26 September 2000 and 15 February 2001, claiming that Rs.1,87,747.15 had been wrongfully withheld and seeking a total of Rs.3,32,432 with interest at 18% per annum

The trial court dismissed the suit; the first appellate court partly allowed the plaintiff’s appeal and awarded Rs.1,32,022.15 with interest at 8% per annum from the date of suit until realisation

The defendant challenged that decree in this second appeal, contending that the first appellate court had wrongly treated the tender application and its terms as inapplicable

The respondent was served but did not appear

Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure limits second appeals to cases involving a substantial question of law; concurrent or factual findings based on admissible evidence are not to be disturbed merely because another view is possible, absent perversity, illegality, or material exclusion of evidence.

Section 34 CPC permits the court to award interest on a money decree.

The first appellate court also reasoned that the tender notice was not itself an agreement between these parties and that the claimed contractual interest and certain deductions were unsupported by an agreement or adequate explanation

The High Court considered the appellant’s challenge to the first appellate court’s treatment of the tender document and the parties’ transaction.

It held that the first appellate court had examined the pleadings and documentary record—including account statements, stock receipt notes, purchase orders, bills, payment letters, and laboratory reports—and had reached a factual finding that Rs.1,32,022.15 remained due

The court found no indication that the finding rested on inadmissible evidence, ignored material evidence, or was perverse or contrary to law; accordingly, the challenge disclosed no substantial question of law warranting intervention

The 8% interest award was made under Section 34 CPC, while the claim for higher contractual interest was not accepted for want of an established agreement

The first appellate court’s decree for Rs.1,32,022.15, with interest at 8% per annum from the date of suit until realisation and proportionate costs, remained undisturbed