Per Hon'ble Dr. S.K. Kakade, Presiding Member

1. This is a complaint filed by an agriculturist consumer, afarmer, against a bank providing loans and one of the experts in the plantation and cultivation of Stevia, a herbal plant used for medicinal purposes, alleging deficiency in service, and unfair trade practice by the bank as well as the expert firm Parnanetra Marketing Private Limited through its director,seeking compensation for loss in plantation and cultivation of Stevia plants.
2.  Brief facts of this complaint are as follows.

The complainant, Mr. Loknath Hallosingh Gajendra, residing at B1, Vastushilpa Nagar, Katol Road, Nagpur 440013, is an agriculturist and now a farmer by occupation after his voluntary retirement in 2003, from Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited, a government of India undertaking.  Opponent no.1 is the Branch Manager, Shri. Abhay Bapat, The Karnataka Bank Limited, Gandhinagar Branch, Nagpur, the Opponent No.2 is the Managing Director / CEOof the Karnataka Bank Limited from Mangalore, Karnataka, address- Post Box no.599, Mahaveera Circle, Kankanady, Mangaluru – 575002. And Opponent No. 3 is Shri. Shitanshu Mahesh Joshi, Managing Director of Parnanetra Marketing Pvt. Ltd. address – Plot no.36, Govt. Press Employees Co-Operative Housing Society, Dabha, Nagpur 440 023.The complainantpurchased agricultural land in the year 2008-09 at village Mahadulla, Tahsil- Parseoni, District Nagpur.The complainant was looking for an advisor so as to cultivate his land by using modern techniques of agriculture and he came across one, Shri Shitanshu Mahesh Joshi, Managing director of Parnanetra Marketing Pvt. Ltd, who convinced the complainant about the benefits and profitabilityof the plantation and cultivation of the Stevia plant. Mr. Joshi also handed over a detailed project proposal to the complainant and with further negotiations, the complainant decided to go ahead with the project proposal. Accordingly, Mr. Joshi assured the complainant to help in obtaining a loan from the Karnataka Bank and thus the three parties signed a tripartite agreement regarding the plantation and cultivation of Stevia, obtaining a loan from the Karnataka Bank by mortgaging the agricultural land of the complainant.

3.  Opponent no. 1 sanctioned the loan amount of Rs. 21, 25, 000/- vide sanction letter dated 11^thAugust 2012 as a term loan for agricultural land development for Stevia cultivation. The relevant documents necessary for obtaining a loan like the 7/12 extract and the copy of the sale deed executed of the land purchased in favour of the complainant were collected from the complainant by Mr. Joshi and due verification was carried out before sanctioning the loan. After the loan was sanctioned, it came to the notice of the complainant that the branch manager of Karnataka Bank had released a major amount of loan Rs. 13, 64,000/- in favour of Shri. Shitanshu Mahesh Joshi, when as per the tripartite agreement the dispersal of the loan was to be released according to the stages of plantation and cultivation of Stevia. Actual plantation and cultivation did not progress as per the proposal. Further