Bizarre! Farmer Fined Rs 50 Lakh For Sending 'Thumbs Up Emoji' To A Customer In Canada

Emojis are something most of us tend to use in our daily conversations on various social media platforms, right? But who can imagine that an emoji, that too of a thumbs up can not only put you into trouble but even attract a mammoth penalty of Rs 50 lakh?

Something of that sort just happened with a farmer in Canada.

Canadian Farmer Fined Rs 50 Lakh For Sending 'Thumbs Up Emoji' To Customer

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A Canadian farmer has landed in hot water for sending a thumbs up emoji to a potential buyer of his produce. Chris Achter, a farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada, sent the thumbs-up emoji to acknowledge the receipt of a contract he was sent via text message.

However, a judge has ruled that the emoji amounted to a contractual agreement and a digital signature. The judge levied a hefty fine on the farmer for failure to fulfil the contract, BBC reported.

The farmer must now pay $82,000 in Canadian dollars (Rs 50 lakh approximately) to grain buyer Kent Mickleborough, who sent him the contract to purchase 86 tonnes of flax in 2021.

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What The Farmer Said In His Defence

Buyer Mickleborough said he spoke to Achter over the phone about purchasing the grain. After the phone call, he sent the farmer a draft of a contract, writing "Please confirm flax contract."

Achter responded with a thumbs-up emoji but failed to deliver the order by the specified date. The farmer said his emoji ¡°simply confirmed that I received the flax contract. It was not a confirmation that I agreed with the terms.¡±

getty

However, Mickleborough claims the two had a long business association and he took the thumbs up emoji to mean a confirmation from Achter¡¯s side. Justice Timothy Keene sided with Mickleborough and levied a fine on Achter for failure to fulfil the contract, as per a Money Control report.

"This court readily acknowledges that a thumbs-up emoji is a non-traditional means to 'sign' a document," Justice Keene wrote. "But nevertheless under these circumstances this was a valid way to convey the two purposes of a 'signature'," he said.

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