- (1.) Leave granted in all the Special Leave Petitions.
(2.) The present appeals arise out of the common impugned judgment and order dated 16.12.2014 passed in Special Appeal No. 384 of 2014 and Special Appeal No. 75 of 2013 along with a batch of other Special Appeals by the High Court of Uttarakhand, whereby the High Court dismissed the challenge to the validity of Section 27(c) (iii) and 27(c) (iv) of the Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2011 and upheld the validity of the same.
(3.) The brief facts of the case required by us to appreciate the rival legal contentions advanced on behalf of the parties are stated here under: The State legislature of Uttarakhand enacted the Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2011 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), which came into force on 01.11.2011. The preamble of the Act reads as under: "An Act to provide for the effective regulation in marketing of agricultural produce, establishment and development of proper and modern marketing system, promotion of agricultural processing and agricultural export, superintendence and control of markets in the State of Uttarakhand and for the matters connected there with or incidental thereto." Section 27(c)(iii) of the Act, provides for the levy of market fees and development cess, which reads as follows: "any such agricultural produce, which reaches any Market area of the State for sale, storage, processing or transaction from any other State or out of Country for the first time it shall be registered as 'First Arrival' and on such produce, Market fee and Development cess shall be payable";