- (1.) Civil Appeal 1656 of 1974 is by special leave. The other appeals are by certificate granted by the Allahabad High Court. All the appeals arise out of the judgment of a Division Bench of that High Court in a batch of Writ Petitions out of which W.P. No. 3421 of 1974 was treated as the leading case. Civil Appeals 1568-1576 of 1974 and batch have arisen out of that batch of Writ Petitions. In the other set of Civil Appeals another Writ Petition of 1974 is said to have been treated as the leading case by the High Court. The decisions were rendered in Writ Petition No. 3421 of 1974 for one batch and in another Writ Petition of 1974 for the. other batch. But in all the appeals before us, the judgment in W. P. No. 3421 of 1974 alone was referred to.
(2.) The Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution challenged the validity of a notification dated 14-6-1974, issued by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in exercise of the power conferred by Rule 114 of the Defence of India Rules, 1971, directing that no registered dealer of fertilizer shall charge or retain, enter into or enforce any contract for charging, in respect of any fertilizer sold to any person on or after 1-6-1974, from any stock held on 31-5-1974, a price exceeding the maximum price fixed by the Central Government for the sale of fertilizer under an earlier notification dated 11-10-1973 issued under Clause 3 of the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1957 made in exercise of the power conferred by S. 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, as it prevailed on 31-5-1974. The Writ Petitions challenged also an order dated 18-6-1914 passed by the District Agricultural Officers directing registered dealers of fertilizers to refund the excess price charged on the sale of fertilizer effected on or after 1-6-1974 from out of the stock which was inexistence on 31-5-1974. The Writ Petitions sought the quashing of the said notification dated 14-6-1974 and also a direction to the District Agricultural Officers and other District Authorities not to ask the dealers to refund the excess in respect of sales completed prior to the date of that notification. The High Court has, while upholding the validity of the notification dated 14-6-1974 and dismissing the prayer for quashing the same, directed the District Agricultural Officers and other District Authorities not to enforce the order for refund of the excess price realized on the sale of fertilizer up to 14-6-1974 from the stocks which were in existence on 31-5-1974. This part of the High Court's order has become final and has not been challenged by the State Government. This Court has directed by orders dated 2-9-1974 and 30-10-1974 that the excess price charged on the sale of fertilizer which was in the possession of the appellants before 1-6-1974 should be deposited with the District Magistrate concerned within a fortnight of the sales, to remain in a separate account.
(3.) The fertilizer in question is admittedly a commodity controlled under the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1957 issued by the Central Government in exercise of the power conferred by S. 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The maximum price for sale of fertilizers by registered dealers to consumers is fixed under Clause 3 of the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1957 by notifications issued from time to time. The sale price of one of the varieties of fertilizer with which we are concerned in these appeals has been fixed at Rs. 1050/- per ton by a notification dated 11-10-1973 which was in force on 31-5-1974. The price fixed in that notification for the sale of that variety of fertilizer to registered dealers was Rs. 1005/- per ton leaving a margin of Rs. 45/- per ton on sale to consumers at Rs. 1050/- per ton. The Central Government, in supersession of the notification dated 11-10-1973 fixed the maximum sale price of that variety of fertilizer at Rs. 2000/- per ton by a notification dated 1-6-1974, thus giving an increase of Rs. 950/- per ton for that variety to the dealers. The dealers started selling at the new rates fixed in that notification for the several varieties of fertilizers. The Government of Uttar Pradesh being of the view that the Central Government's notification dated 1 -6-1974 was not intended to apply to old stock procured by dealers at considerably lower prices from producers which was in existence on 31-5-1974, issued the impugned notification dated 14-6-1974 directing that the old stock should be sold at the old rate of Rs. 1050/- per ton with effect from 1-6-1974. The Writ Petitions were filed by the dealers, some of them for quashing the State Government's notification dated 14-6-1974, some for quashing that notification as also for directing the District Agricultural Officers and other District Authorities not to enforce the order mentioned above and some for the latter direction alone.;