STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION, 2022-2023

SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, PUNE -

NOVICE MOOT SELECTION,

2022-2023

(FOR FIRST YEAR LL.B)

MOOT PROPOSITION
 SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, PUNE - NOVICE MOOT SELECTION, 2022-2023

NMS 2022-2023 MOOT PROPOSITION

MR. VICKY JOSHI

VS.

MS. TANVI KUMARI AND ALLIANCE AGRO PVT. LTD.

(CIVIL APPEAL NO. 420 OF 2022)

1. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multi-ethnic society and is the world's seventh largest country
by geographic area. A federal republic governed under a parliamentary system, India consists of 28
states and 8 union territories. Home to the ancient Indo Valley civilization and a region of historic
trade routes and vast empires, the subcontinent has been identified with its commercial and cultural
wealth for much of its long history. Four religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism -
originated here, and by the 1st millennium CE Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
arrived to shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the
administration of the British East Indiana Company from the early 18th century and administered
directly by the United Kingdom after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, India became an independent
nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance.

2. Currently, the Indian economy is the world's seventh-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by
purchasing power parity (PPP). Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became
one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world and is considered a newly industrialized
country. However, India continues to face significant challenges in the areas of poverty, corruption,
malnutrition, pollution, habitat loss and lack of healthcare.

3. The Indian judiciary consists of courts and tribunals at the federal, state and territory levels, with the
Supreme Court being the highest judicial authority. A single body of common law is applied in the
various courts, and ultimately determined by the Supreme Court. In India as elsewhere, the canola
plant is grown for oil production and for livestock feed. Genetically engineered or genetically
modified canola, referred to as Roundup Ready canola, was developed by the company Monsanto to
be tolerant to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the Roundup, a commonly used herbicide.

4. Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide, which is used to kill emergent broad-leafed weeds and
grasses. It is arguably the most effective post-emergent herbicide ever developed. Plants which are

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exposed to glyphosate are unable to produce aromatic amino acids and thus die. Cotton and grapes
are particularly sensitive to glyphosate.

5. To develop Roundup Ready canola, Monsanto scientists introduced two genes into the original
canola genome. One gene is derived from the common soil bacterium Agrobacterium strain CP4,
which encodes for the EPSPS enzyme. The other gene comes from the Ochrobactrum anthropi strain
LBAA, which encodes for the enzyme glyphosate oxidase (GOX). The EPSPS enzyme provides the
canola plant with high tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate, by allowing it to continue to produce
aromatic amino acids after glyphosate is applied, while GOX helps the plant break down the existing
glyphosate.

6. Due to heavy use by farmers, plant resistance to glyphosate is becoming prevalent throughout the
developed world. Roundup Ready canola has also become a weed, or plant pest, due to its glyphosate
resistance. This is in part due to the ability of canola seed to lie dormant in the soil for up to ten years
before germinating. In addition, scientists have proven that Roundup Ready canola readily migrates
from its original planting site.

7. In March 2018, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer
classified the herbicide glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic in humans" based on epidemiological
and other studies. Mr. Vicky Joshi owned 60 hectares of farmland outside Pune. In 2019, Mr. Joshi
first planted Roundup Ready canola on part of his farmland. Seeing how well it did, and how well he
could control weeds with glyphosate in that experimental plot, Mr. Joshi converted all of his
production to Roundup Ready canola in 2019.

8. Ms. Tanvi Kumari inherited 60 hectares of farmland after her mother’s death in 2019, which land
was across the street from Mr. Joshi’s land. Her mother had grown canola on the farmland. After her
mother’s death, Tanvi converted the farm to certified organic canola and diversified production by
planting grape vines. The production of canola increased by 10% per hectare after Ms. Kumari took
over.

9. Over time Mr. Joshi and Ms. Kumari began to disagree about whether genetically engineered or
organic canola plants were more productive, produced a superior product, and were better for the soil.
One day in April 2021, Ms. Kumari woke to find most of the canola plants on her land brown and
desiccated. Mr. Joshi had sprayed his Roundup Ready canola crop with glyphosate the day before,
which day had been windy. His canola plants looked fine. Ms. Kumari lost 75% of her canola crop.
The 25% that remained were those plants closest to the land of Mr. Joshi, and Ms. Kumari surmised

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that they were in fact Roundup Ready migrants from Mr. Joshi’s land. The grape vines on Ms.
Kumari’s land lost their leaves and died. Ms. Kumari lost her organic certification.

10. In a published interview that was requested by a reporter from the Pune Times, Ms. Kumari said
“That so-called farmer Joshi killed my grape vines and my canola plants. He destroyed the farmland
that my family has worked for generations. His canola oil is unsafe and will kill people, too. It is time
we stopped exploiting Mother Earth and damaging our neighbours, ourselves, and all of creation in
the process.”

11. Alliance Agro Company Pvt. Ltd., which is one of Mr. Joshi’s regular customers, who had made
advance payments to Mr. Joshi, started to withdraw their stakes from purchase contract and further
avoided their purchase contract for buying canola oil after the article was published. In addition to
that Alliance Agro Company Pvt. Ltd. also demanded a refund of the advance paid to Mr. Joshi. Mr.
Joshi filed a suit to get compensation from Alliance Agro company Pvt. Ltd. treating conduct on their
part as material breach of contract.

12. In the suit between Mr. Joshi and Alliance Agro Company Pvt. Ltd. the Delhi High Court ruled in
favour of Alliance Agro Company Pvt. Ltd. on September 12, 2021, and ordered Mr. Joshi to refund
the advance paid towards their contractual obligations as well as rejected the claim of compensation
demanded by him. Aggrieved by the order passed by the Delhi High Court, Mr. Joshi filed an appeal
before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, demanding compensation to be paid towards material
breach of contract, as well as pleaded for not refunding the advance amount paid towards the purchase
contract. The matter is posted to be heard on a later date by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.

13. Ms. Kumari also sued Mr. Joshi in the Delhi High Court by exercising the original jurisdiction of the
court as the claim amounted to Rs. Five crores only. She sought compensation for the damage caused
to her grapes, canola, and farm certification. Mr. Joshi counterclaimed for defamation and damages.

14. By judgment delivered in March 2022, the Delhi High Court issued a declaratory judgment finding
in favor of Ms. Kumari on the damages to her land, awarding her Rs. Two crores as well as rejected
the counterclaim of defamation towards Mr. Joshi. Aggrieved by the decision passed by the Delhi
High Court, Mr. Joshi filed an appeal to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The Hon’ble Court has
decided to club both the petitions and posted the matter for final hearing on November 20, 2022.

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ISSUES:

I) WHETHER MR. JOSHI CAN CLAIM DAMAGES FOR TORTIOUS DEFAMATION FROM MS. KUMARI.

II) WHETHER MS. KUMARI CAN CLAIM COMPENSATION FROM MR. JOSHI FOR NEGLIGENCE AND

SUBSEQUENT LOSSES INCURRED ON CANOLA, GRAPES AND LOSS OF CERTIFICATION.

III) WHETHER MR. JOSHI IS ENTITLED FOR COMPENSATION FROM ALLIANCE AGRO PVT. LTD. DUE TO
THE MATERIAL BREACH OF PURCHASE CONTRACT.

IV) WHETHER MR. JOSHI IS LIABLE TO REFUND THE MONEY TO ALLIANCE AGRO PVT. LTD. DUE TO
FRUSTRATION OF CONTRACT.

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NOTE:

1. The legal issues presented here are not confined to any single area of the law. Legal issues in the
areas of torts, contracts, and civil procedure may all be present. However, assume that there are no
issues of criminal law presented here.

2. Indian law will be more persuasive to the court than any international law. However, international
law from common law nations may be relied on if necessary.

3. The court expects a full exploration and explanation for each important legal issue presented in this
fact pattern.

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