Debi Singh Tewatia, J. - (1.) THE Petitioners, 15 in number claiming to be auctioneers by profession of foodgrains in the notified market yards of the concerned Market Committees - -some of them i.e. Petitioners 5 to 11 were said to be rendering professional service prior to the coming into force of the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) as paid employees of the Market Committees and continued to do so till 8th August, 1965 and thereafter did so under licence from the said Committees with their commission fixed at five paise per hundred rupees - -have impugned in this writ petition the notification issued by Respondent No. 2, annexed to the writ petition as annexure 'D', and the order, annexure 'E', passed by the Under -Secretary to the Punjab Government, exercising power of Government under Section 42 of the Act, inter -alia, on the ground (1) that the said notification had been issued in violation of the procedure prescribed by Section 44(2) of the Act, and (2) that to the extent it barred the Petitioners, and their like, from carrying on their profession it violated their fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India and was, therefore, ultra -vires the said provision of the Constitution.
(2.) THE petition, in the first instance, came up for consideration before Sharma, J. before whom only two contentions were advanced: (1) that the notification, annexure 'D', was issued in violation of the provisions of Section 44(2) of the Act and that the order, annexure 'E', upholding the same, suffered from the same illegality; and (2) that by the said notification, annexure 'D', the Petitioners were debarred from carrying on their trade or profession as auctioneers in their respective Market Committees, which violated their fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India and to that extent was ultra -vires of the said provisions. While the learned Judge, in view of an authoritative decision of this Court in Messrs Sohela Mal -Dayal Singh and Ors. v. The State Agricultural Marketing Board, and Anr., 1973 P.L.J. 410, repelled the first contention against the said notification; regarding the second contention he felt that the matter was not free from controversy and since his decision was as a matter of right challengeable in appeal, so he considered it desirable that the matter be decided by a larger Bench. That is how the case has been placed before us for decision. This Bench is, therefore, called upon to decide only the constitutional vires of notification, annexure 'D' to the writ petition. The facts that bear upon the point raised before us are only few and not in dispute. They are: that the Petitioners had been rendering service in the concerned Market Committees as auctioneers of farm produce brought for sale in the notified market yards and were charging five paise per hundred rupees as their commission fixed by the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board (Respondent No. 2) - -hereinafter referred to as the Board, - -vide notification annexure 'A'; and that the impugned notification has prescribed no such rates for the auctioneers which had the result of eliminating their role as auctioneers.
(3.) THE stage is now set to take note of the relevant provisions of the Act and the circumstances leading to the filing of the present writ petition.;