JAYANTA KUMAR BISWAS,J - (1.) THE petitioners in this WP under art.226 dated September 25, 2012 are questioning an order of the Jute Commissioner dated September 14, 2012 (WP pp.217-222A) rejecting their request for modification of some PCOs for manufacture of jute bags and issuing future PCOs considering their installed capacity.
(2.) IT is not disputed that the Jute Commissioner passed the order under provisions of the Jute Textiles Control Order, 2000 (WP p.71). In view of the provisions of para.8 of the Control Order, the petitioners feeling aggrieved by the order were entitled to lodge an appeal with the Central Government. Mr Bag appearing for the Jute Commissioner has submitted that the petitioners deciding not to appeal against the order of the Jute Commissioner should not be permitted to question the order before the Writ Court under art.226. Mr Talukdar appearing for the petitioners has argued as follows. He is in a position to produce a document to show that the Central Government has already said that the order of the Jute Commissioner is proper. Hence the petitioners will not get any relief, if they file an appeal to the Central Government that has already made up its mind. In any case, since the petitioners were given only a choice to lodge an appeal, they are entitled to question the order before the Writ Court under art.226.
(3.) IN the WP the petitioners have not stated why they chose to avoid the statutory appellate forum. On the contrary, they have stated an incorrect case in para.68 of the WP. Paragraph 68 is quoted below:- "68.Your petitioners have no other adequate alternative or efficacious remedy or any other remedy under the law. The prayers asked for herein, if granted would give complete relief to your petitioners. " There is absolutely no reason to accept the argument that the Central Government has already made up its mind. No appeal has yet been lodged against the order of the Jute Commissioner, and hence no reliance can be placed on any extraneous material to form an opinion that the Central Government has already examined the order on merits and decided to uphold it.;