- (1.) By this order, we shall dispose of CWP Nos.17226 of 2009; and 4901 of 2010 as the questions of law and facts involved in these cases are common in nature. For the sake of brevity, the facts are being extracted from CWP No.17226 of 2009.
(2.) Aradhana Drinks and Beverages Pvt. Ltd. seeks (i) a mandamus to declare that Section 123 read with Section 399(1)(H)(16) of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 ultra vires Article 246 read with List-II and List-III of the Seventh Schedule, read with Article 243(W) and Twelfth Schedule to the Constitution of India; (ii) to declare the Local Government/Municipal Corporation (Control of Advertisement) Bye-laws, 2003 as non-existent as they ultra vires the above-referred provisions of the Indian Constitution; (iii) a writ of certiorari to quash the notice dated August 11, 2009 (Annexure P3) and the letter dated September 1, 2009 (Annexure P5) both issued by the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana; and (iv) a writ of prohibition to restrain the respondents from taking down, removing, dismantling, spoiling or defacing the Dealer Boards on the shops, outlets and other premises bearing the 'names' of such shop outlets, buildings as well as the Trademarks, Logo and other advertisements of the products being distributed by the petitioner-Company.
(3.) To appreciate the issues involved suffice it to mention that the petitioner is a Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. The petitioner is engaged in the business of selling and distributing carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, juices, juice-based drinks and packaged drinking water under the Trademarks "Pepsi", "7-Up", "Mirinda", "Tropicana", "Slice", "Aquafina" etc. in the State of Punjab.;