RAJKOT LODHIKA SAHAKARI KHARID VECHAN SANGH LIMITED Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) . Six petitioners who have filed this petition are manufacturers or producers of groundnut oil. It is their case that they receive groundnuts from the growers and they produce oil on their behalf and sell it also on their behalf. After oil is produced it is stored in bulk in storage tanks and then it is sold under the advice of the owners of groundnuts who act through their primary societies. Petitioner No. 1 does not charge any commission for effecting the sales. It only collects process charges for the production of oil out of groundnuts supplied to it by the growers.

(2.) At the relevant time petitioner No. 1 had in stock 804 tonnes of groundnut oil. According to petitioner No. 1 it belonged to the owners who had supplied groundnuts to it. It also had in stock 18 tonnes of refined solvent groundnut oil. Petitioner No. 1 had also in its storage tanks 666 tonnes of oil belonging to the marketing federation and 150 tonnes of refined solvent oil belonging to that federation. So far as the oil of the marketing federation is concerned petitioner No. 1 charges the federation rent for storage of oil It does not charge the growers of groundnut any rent for the storage of any oil. So far as the financial aspect is concerned it is the case of the petitioners that the growers who supply groundnuts to petitioner No. 1 are entitled to credit from the Bank to the extent of 75 % of the value of groundnuts supplied by them to petitioner No. 1.

(3.) In 1977 Gujarat Government issued two Orders under the Essential Commodities Act 1955 The first Order was called Gujarat Pulses and Edible Oils Dealers Licensing Order 1977 It was issued on 14th October 1977. We shall be referring to this Order hereinafter in this judgment as the first Licensing Order. On 16th December 1977 Gujarat Government issued Gujarat Pulses Edible Oil Seeds and Edible Oils Dealers Licensing Order 1977 We shall hereinafter refer to it in this judgment as the second Licensing Order. The second Licensing Order superseded the first Licensing Order. That is what is provided in clause 21 of the second Licensing Order. In 1977 Gujarat Government issued another Order known as Gujarat Essential Articles Dealers (Regulation) Order 1977 It was issued on 21st September 1977. We shall hereinafter refer to this Order as the Regulation Order. We may state that in this petition we are not concerned with any challenge to the Regulation Order. Reference has been made to it only for the purpose of elucidating the contentions which have been raised against the validity of the certain provisions of the second Licensing Order.