S.C.AGRAWAL, J. - (1.) IN this writ petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner, Rikhab Chand Jain who is a trader in agricultural produce, has challenged the validity of certain provisions of the Rajasthan Agricultural Produce Market Act 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') and the validity of Rule 61 of the Rajasthan Agricultural Produce Market Rules, 1963, (hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules').
(2.) THE Act was enacted by the Rajasthan State Legislature with a view to provide for the better regulation of buying and selling of agricultural produce and the establishment of markets for agricultural produce in the State of Rajasthan. The Act provides for the declaration of an area to be a market area by the State Government, after issue of a notification inviting objections and after consideration of the said objections and for the declaration of a market proper as well the principal market yard as the sub market yard. After the declaration of the market area, the Act provides for the establishment of Market Committee which is the administrative organ created for the purpose of implementing the scheme operated by the Act. The Act assigns to the Market Committee, certain functions for managing the market proper, the principal Market yard and the sub -market yard within the market area and the Market Committee has been given the power to control and regulate the trading activities both in the interests of the agriculturalists as well as the traders operating in the market. In exercise of the power conferred on it under Section 3 of the Act, the State Government issued a notification in February 1970, declaring its intention to regulate the purchase and also of agricultural produce specified therein in the area of the Begun Panchayat Samiti and by the notification aforesaid, objections and suggestions were invited with regard to the said prop Mai, As no objection was received in response to the said notification. the State Government, by notification dated October 26, 1970, issued under Section 4 (1) of the Act, declared the area of the Begun Panchayat Samiti as a market area for the purposes of the Act By the notification aforesaid the State Government constituted the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Begun, under Section 6 of the Act and under Section 9(a)(b) of the Act, the State Government required the said Market Committee to establish a market in the market area and thereupon the Market Committee established a market for the market area within the area of Begun Panchayat Samiti. The State Government, in exercise of its power under Section 5 (2) of the Act, declared that Park (Zando Ka Chowk) and 'Bal Bar Phool Bai ka Chowk, in village Begun will be the principal market yard. By the notification aforesaid the State Government, in exercise of its power under Section 4 (3) of the Act restrained all persons from setting up establishing or continuing any place for the purchase and sale of agricultural produce, mentioned in the notification at any place in the market area except the principal market yard referred to above. After the aforesaid declaration, the market yard started functioning on May 29, 1971 and, thereafter, the petitioner, on August 21, 1972, obtained a licence from the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Begun under the Rules, for the purpose of carrying on business in agricultural produce as a trader. After obtaining the licence, the petitioner, on November 18, 1972, has filed this writ petition to challenge the validity of certain provisions of the Act and Rule 64 of the Rules.
(3.) IN his writ petition, the petitioner has challenged the validity of provisions contained in Clauses (vii), (x), (xiii) and (xvii) of Section 2 of the Act, which define the expressions 'market', 'market proper', 'principal market yard' and 'sub market yard', Section 5, which provides for declaration of principal market yard as sub market yards and Section 9 which defines the functions and duties of die Market Committee. In the course of the arguments, the learned Counsel for the petitioner gave up challenge to the validity of Section 9 of the Act and confined his attack to Clauses (vii), (x), (xiii) and (xvii) of Section 2 and Sub -ection (1) of Section 5 of the Act. The said provisions read as under: 2 (vii) : 'market' means a regulated market established under and for the purpose of this Act and includes a market proper as well as a principal market yard or a sub market yard. 2 (x) : market proper' means the area, including all lands with the buildings thereon, within such distance of a principal market yard or a sub -market yard as the State Government may declare to be a market proper.' 2 (xiii) : 'Principal market yard' means an agriculture building or locality declared to be a principal market yard under Section 5. 2 (xvii) : 'Sub -market yard' means an enclosure, building or locality declared to be a sub -market yard under Section Section 5 of the Act reads as under : 5. Division of market into yards: (1) For each market area there shall be one principal market yard and one or m ire sub -market yards as may be necessary. (2) The State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare any enclosure, building or locality in any market area to be a principal market yard far the area and other enclosures, building or localities to be one or more sub -market yards. ;