- (1.) BY a notification date the 12th November, 1970, (hereinafter re ferred to as "the Notification") the Cen tral Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (3) of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, made under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, fixed the minimum price payable by the owners of the vacuum pan pro cess sugar factories all over India for the sugarcane supplied to them during the year 1970-71. The various sugar facto ries to which the notification applied and minimum sugarcane price payable by them were set out in the Schedule to the notification. Under the Schedule the Neoli Sugar Factory, owned by the peti tioner, Messrs. Shervani Sugar Syndicate (Private) Limited, was required to pay Rs. 7-57 per quintal as the minimum price of sugarcane supplied to that fact ory. The principles on which the prices in the Schedule were fixed for the various factories by the Central Govern ment were set out in a Circular letter of the same date issued to all the sugar factories in India (hereinafter referred to as "the Circular Letter"). The Circular letter stated:- "The minimum prices have been fix ed on the basis of a basic minimum price of Rs. 7-37 per quintal linked to a reco very of 9.4 per cent, or below, with a premium of 6.6 paise instead of 5.36 paise per quintal, as in the preceding year, for every 0.1 per cent, increase in reco very above 9.4 per cent." By this writ petition, the petitioner impugns the legality of the Notification fixing the minimum price in so far as it relates to the petitioner's sugar factory on the ground that the minimum price fixed by the Notification read with the Circular Letter is in contravention of clause 3 of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, which authorises the Cen tral Government to fix the price of su garcane.
(2.) CLAUSE 3 (1) of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, which is relevant for the purpose of this writ petition, reads:- "(3) (i) The Central Government may, after consultation with such autho rities, bodies or associations as it may deem fit, by notification in the Official Gazette, from time to time, fix the mini mum price of sugarcane to be paid by producers of sugar of their agents for the sugarcane purchased by them, hav ing regard to- (a) the cost of production of sugar cane; (b) the return to the grower from alternative crops and the general trend of prices of agricultural commodities; (c) the availability of sugar to the consumer at a fair price; (d) the price at which sugar pro duced from sugarcane is sold by pro ducers of sugar; and (e) the recovery of sugar from sugarcane. Provided that the Central Govern ment or, with the approval of the Central Government the State Government may, in such circumstances and subject to such conditions as it may specify allow a suitable rebate in the price so fixed. Explanation- Different prices may be fixed for different areas or different qualities or varieties of sugarcane." The complaint of the petitioner is that in fixing the minimum price by the Notification for the sugarcane suppli ed to the petitioner's factory, the Central Government has not, as is said to be evident from the Circular Letter, taken into consideration the price at which the sugar produced from sugar cane is sold by the producer of such sugar and has exaggerated the recovery of sugar from the sugarcane supplied to the petitioner's factory.
(3.) TO appreciate the questions arising for determination in this writ petition in the light of the arguments advanced at the Bar, it is necessary to narrate a few facts.;