A.N.VARMA, J. - (1.) The petitioner is an association which claims to represent 450 out of 726 cold storages operating in different parts of the State. The association assails the validity of the U.P. Government Notification No. 847/XII-4-585-86, dated February 19, 1987 issued by the State Government in exercise of its powers under Section 29 of U.P. Regulation of Cold Storages Act, 1976 (the 'Act', in brief) fixing the maximum hiring charges which a licencee may charge for storing potatoes in the cold storage including any other service rendered in connection therewith at Rs. 23/- per quintal for the period from February 15, 1987 to November, 30, 1987 or part thereof in the whole of Uttar Pradesh.
(2.) The petition represents a class of litigations which have, over the years, become an annual feature in this Court. Each year that the Government notifies maximum storage charges under the said Act for potatoes cold storages of Uttar Pradesh have been making an annual trip to this Court on the self same pleas with slight variations and improvements here and there, namely, that the charges fixed by the Government are arbitrarily low impinging upon their rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India, that in fixing maximum charges the Government has not had regard to the obvious escalations in the cost inputs essential in the operation of cold storage industry, etc. etc. The cry that the maximum charges fixed by the Government if not quashed by this Court would inevitably result in the closure of the cold storages throughout the State is repeated every year. And more often than not the cold storages have succeeded in obtaining interim orders from this Court under which they are allowed to charge from the cold storages higher rates than fixed under the statute. These interim orders mostly outlast the season. The petitions except those relating to the year 1986 have been dismissed with a direction that the petitioners shall refund the excess amount realized under interim orders. There is no knowing whether the producers have, in fact, been refunded the amount. Last year while allowing the petitions and quashing the notification, this Court directed the Government to refix the storage charges. The State Government has not yet refixed the maximum charges, it is alleged in the counter-affidavit, because of the delaying tactics adopted by the cold storage industry. The fate of the potato growers in regard to the excess charges realized by the industry under interim orders remains in the doldrums.
(3.) What we wish to stress is that whether the cold storages succeed or lose in these legal battles, the potato growers lose in either case because of the absence of any effective machinery by which excess charges realized from them could be made over to them. The tragic part of this is that in all these litigations the potato growers who are directly affected are not impleaded and their case has but for the defence put up by the State Government gone largely in default on the very unconvincing plea that their number is large and unwieldy.;