- (1.) These writ petitions under Art. 32 of the Constitution and petitions for special leave to appeal under Art. 136 of the Constitution may be disposed of by a common order since they raise the same questions. In exercise of the powers conferred by S. 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and delegated to it by the Government of India by its Order No. GSR 1088 dated Nov. 15, 1958, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Department of Food), the Government of Madhya Pradesh made the Madhya Pradesh Foodstuffs (Distribution Control) Order, 1960. The undoubted object of the order was to provide for better distribution of foodstuffs to such class of consumers as required a regular supply of such foodstuffs. Detailed provision was made for the issue of 'family cards', the registration of the holders of such 'family cards' with "appointed retailers" the appointment of "appointed retailers", the supply of foodstuffs to "appointed retailers" by the Government, the sale of foodstuffs by 'appointed retailers' to consumers etc. "Family card" was defined as meaning "a card or document issued to the head of a family under or in pursuance of the provisions of this order". "Appointed retailer" was defined to mean "a retail dealer appointed or deemed to be appointed under the provisions of Cl. 3 in respect of any foodstuff". "Govt. scheme" was defined to mean "the scheme for distribution of foodstuffs to consumers through fair price shops set up by the Government in this behalf''. Clause 3 of the Order made provisions for the appointment of "appointed retailers" by the Collector for purposes of distributing foodstuffs under the Government scheme. Clause 4 of the Order prohibited an "appointed retailer" from supplying any foodstuffs in respect of which he held his appointment except under and in accordance with the provisions of the order. Pursuant to the M. P. Foodstuffs (Distribution Control) Order, 1960, several persons were appointed as "appointed retailers". The petitioners were so appointed and many of them claimed that they were unemployed graduates at the time of their appointment as "appointed retailers". Things went on, according to the Government very badly, till the Government moved in the matter, first, by sending urgent wireless messages to all Collectors on Oct. 28, 1980, and following it up very soon thereafter, on Oct. 30, 1980, by amending the M. P. Foodstuffs (Distribution Control) Order, 1960. The wireless message was as follows "No. 6494/4755/XXDC/180 dated Oct., 1980. Government has declined to exclude the appointment of approved retailer i. e. fair price shop from the purview of M. P. Foodstuffs (Distribution Control) Order, 1960. Stop these appointments will until further orders of the Collectors Stop Gazette notification to their except issuing today Stop New arrangements will be effective from first Nov., 1980 from which date existing shops will be deemed to be continuing to operate under the Collectors' authority Stop. Since Collectors will now be free to cancel suspend and appoint new retailers Government desire that in all new appointment Stop Co-operative Societies be given first priority and cases of others be determined on merit i.e. persons who would be interested and be able to do this business Stop. It may be necessary to insist on foodgrains and sugar dealers licensers from new retailers at least in urban areas and within a month or so in rural areas when formal appointments, are made Stop. Till present retailers are substituted formerly present ones will continue Stop please complete this process within a week Stop Detailed instructions will follow Stop'' By the amendment made on Oct. 30, 1980, in the M. P. Foodstuffs (Distribution Control) Order, the definition of "appointed retailer" was deleted and an expression "fair price shop" was newly defined to mean a shop set up by the Government under the Government scheme. All the clauses of the order dealing with "appointed retailers" were deleted. The provisions of the order relating to "family cards'' were however retained. The holder of a "family card" was required to get the card registered with the "fair price shop" in the prescribed manner for the purpose of obtaining foodstuffs for his family. In the order, as it stood, originally, there were provisions for appeal and revision against orders of suspension or revocation of the appointment of "appointed dealers". These clauses also went the way of the other clauses relating to "appointed retailers". Thereafter the Government of Madhya Pradesh promulgated a scheme known as the Madhya Pradesh Foodstuffs (Civil Supply Distribution) Scheme, 1981. The scheme cast a duty upon the Collector to establish 'fair price shops'. It was proposed that there should be a 'fair price shop' in each area with a population of 2000 so that no consumer may have to travel more than five kilometres to purchase foodstuffs. The fair price shops were to be run by agents appointed by the Collector. It was made clear that the agents were to have no right of legal ownerhip over the 'fair price shops'. In the allotment of 'fair price shops', co-operative societies were to be given first preference. If there was a co-operative society in an area, and if such society expressed, in writing, its unwillingness to run the fair price shop, the fair price shop could be allotted to other persons. The allottee was to be a person with satisfactory financial resources and in a position to discharge the duties and obligations of a fair price shop. He should not have been adjudged insolvent. He should bear good character and should not have been convicted of a criminal offence. Every fair price shop was expected to stock specified items of foodstuffs in such quantities as would be sufficient for one and half month's supply to consumers. The opening and closing hours of the shop were to be regulated by the Collector. The shop had to be kept open for at least eight hours every day. The fair price Shop was to be paid a commission and transport and other incidental expenses at the rates to be determined by the Government.
(2.) The vital change brought about by the amendment and the new scheme was the abolition of the system of 'appointed retailers' and their replacement by 'fair price shops' which were to be run by the agents appointed under the new scheme, preference in the matter of appointment of agents being given to co-operative societies.
(3.) Writ petitions were filed immediately in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh by erstwhile 'appointed retailers' questioning the validity of the wireless message, the amendment of the M. P. Foodstuffs (Distribution) Control Order and the M. P. Foodstuffs (Civil Supplies Public Distribution) Scheme. A Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court (G. P. Singh, C. J. and Faizanuddin J.) dismissed the writ petitions by their judgment, D/- 13-4-1981 : (reported in AIR 1981 Madh Pra 203). Most of the submissions made before us were also made before the High Court and were rejected by the learned Chief Justice in a well considered judgment. Some of the applicants before the High Court have filed petitions for special leave to appeal to this Court and some others have directly moved this Court under Art. 32 of the Constitution.;