- (1.) Heard the learned Advocates appearing for the parties.
(2.) In the instant application the petitioners, who are running that respective businesses outside of the jurisdiction of Kaliagunj Regulated Market Committee, have challenged the notices issued by Kaliagunj Regulated Market Committee demanding market fees and directing them to obtain licence from the said Committee. By a Demand Notice dated 24th December, 1990, the learned Advocate on behalf of the writ petitioners lodged grievance by contending that since the petitioners were running the business in the places, which are outside of the Kaliagunj market area namely in the areas Bansihari, Kusmandi, Hemtabad, Itahar and Raigunj, which under the statutes as yet are not controlled by setting up respective Market Committees, the Kaliagunj Market Committee had no jurisdiction to charge market fees and also cannot direct the petitioners to apply for the licence under the said Committee to run their businesses. As nothing was answered, this writ application praying necessary relief.
(3.) Subsequently by filling Supplementary Affidavit, another point of law has been thrashed to this effect that the impugned notifications being Annexures C, D and E of the writ application declaring the market areas of different zones were not at all published in the notification as per the statutory provision namely Section 3 of the West Bengal Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1972, hereinafter for brevity referred to as Agricultural Marketing Act. It has been further urged in course of hearing that the aforesaid Act never come into force in the areas where petitioners are running business by issuing the notification in Official Gazette in terms of Section 1 sub-section (3) of the said Act and as a resultant effect, the respondents had no jurisdiction even to set up any market area and further the respondents cannot direct the petitioners, who are running business outside the jurisdiction of the Kaliagunj Market Committee to have the licence under them on payments of market fees.;