Supplier status under the MSME Act may extend beyond micro and small enterprises, affecting Facilitation Council jurisdiction.

Section 2(n)(iii) of the MSME Development Act has an inclusive scope and can extend the status of "supplier" beyond micro or small enterprises to a company or body engaged in selling goods produced by, or rendering services provided by, such enterprises. Read with Sections 17 and 18, the statutory remedy before the Facilitation Council is therefore not automatically confined to micro or small enterprises alone. A medium enterprise may invoke Section 18 if it first satisfies the definition of supplier under Section 2(n)(iii). The Council erred in rejecting the claim solely on the ground that the petitioner was a medium enterprise, without first determining supplier status.

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Issues: Whether a medium enterprise can invoke the jurisdiction of the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council under Section 18 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 when it claims to be a supplier within Section 2(n)(iii).

Analysis: The definition of "supplier" in Section 2(n) is inclusive and extends beyond micro or small enterprises to any company or body engaged in selling goods produced by micro or small enterprises and rendering services provided by such enterprises. Reading Section 2(n)(iii) harmoniously with Sections 17 and 18, the statutory remedy is available to an enterprise other than a micro or small enterprise if it answers that description. A construction that excludes such a supplier from Section 18 would render the definition and the connected remedial provisions ineffective.

Conclusion: The Council erred in rejecting the application merely because the petitioner is a medium enterprise. The matter had to be examined first on whether the petitioner is a supplier within Section 2(n)(iii), and only then could jurisdiction under Section 18 be determined.

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