Indore: The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while ruling in a 9-year-old case, said that garlic should also be considered as a vegetable. Farmers have been given relief that they can now sell garlic in the vegetable market along with the agricultural produce market.
Garlic, while commonly used as a spice, is botanically classified as a vegetable. It’s a member of the vegetable family that includes onions, leeks, and shallots. However, due to its strong flavor and the way it’s often used in cooking, garlic is frequently treated as a spice in culinary contexts.
The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s ruling to classify garlic as a vegetable allows it to be sold in both vegetable and spice markets. This decision benefits farmers and sellers by providing them with more market options for selling garlic. The bench restored the February 2017 order of a single bench of the High Court.
The Madhya Pradesh market board in 2015 had passed a resolution and elevated the bulb to the vegetable rack. However, soon after, the agriculture department scrapped that order and relegated the bulb to spice status, pointing to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act of 1972, according to a report published in a leading daily.
The Potato Onion Garlic Commission Agent Association initially challenged the principal secretary’s order in 2016 by moving the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. In February 2017, a single-judge bench ruled in favor of the association, classifying garlic as a vegetable. However, this decision was met with criticism from businessmen who argued that the ruling primarily benefited commission agents rather than farmers.
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