SANJAY KUMAR GUPTA Vs. STATE OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Through the medium of this writ petition, petitioner seeks the following reliefs:-

(2.) The case set up by the petitoner for entitling him to the relief claimed is that the State Government enabled the young entrepreneurs to establish Small Scale Industrial Units(for brevity SSIU) to which Minor Forest Produce (for brevity MFP) countrified the raw material for processing. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir enabled the petitioner to set up a Small Scale Industrial Unit styled as 'KASHMIR HERBAL INDSUTRY' at village Panditgam Asrarabad Kishtwar. Upon completion of verification/inspection, the SSIU was provisionally registered on 16.12.2002. The registration was made permanent on 31.01.2004 after according permission for extraction/collection of MFP for the year 2003-04 from Kishtwar, Bhaderwah and Doda Forest Divisions on royalty basis vide Order No. PCCF/MFP/138/1351-57 dated 23.06.2003. Petitioner extracted/collected MFP, processed the same in its SSIU and refined/processed items became available for transportation to various places for marketing purposes. Petitoner claims to have collected a lot of MFP and dumped the same at different places for its further processing in the SSIU when Government Order No. 290-FST of 2004 dated 14.07.2004 came to be issued imposing complete ban on extraction of the MFP for a period of five years. Resultantly production activity in the SSIU of petitioner came to a grinding halt. Petitioner was not allowed to transport the already processed MFP in time, which forced him to file a writ petition before this Court. Petitioner claims to have suffered loss to the tune of Rs. one crore. Petitioner's grievance is that despite elapsing of a period of five years for which ban had been imposed, petitioner has not been granted permission for extraction/collection of MFP despite making representation to the Government.

(3.) Respondents have filed objections denying the allegations leveled by the petitioner. It is pleaded that the petitoner was already working as Forest Contractor for extraction of MFP on contract basis duly sanctioned by the competent authority. Petitioner is said to have set up the SSIU at its own will. The Unit was registered for processing of Medicinal herbs. Permission was granted to the petitioner for extraction/collection of MFP for the year 2003-04 from Kishtwar, Bhaderwah and Doda Forest Divisions on royalty basis, with the condition imposed in regard to extraction of MFP by end of December 2003 and transportation up to Factory by March 2004. Ban was imposed on extraction of MFP for a period of five years in terms of order No. 290-FST of 2004. This was in tune with the policy of the Government which took into account the wide scale destruction of medicinal forest flora over a period of time. Petitioner had filed an affidavit, forming annexure R2 to the objections, wherein he categorically accepted the above working period. The permission was only up to ending March 2004. The order of imposition of ban on extraction of MFP was issued on 14.07.2004. Petitoner was granted extension of time for transportation of MFP items from TDS to his factory premises Kishtwar up to ending July, 2004. Petitoner was also granted permission for transportation of finished material out side the State, though initially he was allowed to utilize the same only within the State. It was pleaded that delay in transportation of material and loss suffered by the petitioner, if any, was only due to his mismanagement. Regarding imposition of Ban on extraction of MFP , it is submitted that same is the policy matter of the Government, and in its consideration, imposition of ban was in the interest and safeguard of MFP's which had been extracted heavily in the past years and there was no intention to cause loss to any unit holder.