ALLAHABAD CANNING CO Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by Special Leave directed against an order of the High Court of Allahabad dismissing a writ petition filed by the appellants claiming refund of a sum of Rs. 22681.88 from the Levy Sugar Price Equalisation Fund under Section 6 sub-sec. (1) of the Levy Sugar Price Equalisation Fund Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as the Equalisation Fund Act). The facts of the case are few and may be briefly stated as follows :

(2.) Since the excess amount recovered by the various manufacturers of sugar, including K. M. Sugar Mills Limited really belonged to the consumers to whom sugar had been sold by these manufacturers, Parliament enacted Levy Sugar Price Equalisation Fund Act, 1976 with effect from 1-4-1976 for the purpose of ensuring that the excess amount so recovered should not remain in the hands of manufacturers of sugar so as to unjustly enrich them but should be paid to the consumers of sugar from whom it had been unlawfully recovered by the manufacturers. Section 3 (1) of the Equalisation Fund Act established a Fund known as the Levy Sugar Price Equalisation Fund. Sub-section (2) of Section 3 provided that there shall be credited to the Fund amounts representing all excess realisations made by the manufacturers, irrespective of whether such realisations were made before or after the commencement of the Equalisation Fund Act. Pursuant to this provision, the Registrar of the High Court deposited a sum of Rs. 22,681.88 to the Credit of the Fund. Section 6 of the Equalisation Fund Act then proceeded to enact that where any amount of excess realisation is credited to the Fund, the buyer of Levy Sugar from whom such excess realisation was made by the manufacturer shall be entitled to the refund of such excess realisation from the Fund. This Section is material for the purpose of determination of the controversy arising in the present appeal and we would, therefore, reproduce it as follows :

(3.) Since a sum of Rs. 22,681.88 represented excess realisation made by K. M. Sugar Mills Limited from the appellants and this amount was credited to the Fund by the Registrar of the High Court, the appellants filed an application in Form IV making a claim for refund of this amount from the Fund. This application was filed by the appellants on 30th April, 1979, admittedly within the prescribed period of six months. The Central Government, however, rejected the claim made by the appellants on the ground that they had not been able to establish fully and clearly that the incidence of higher sugar price was not passed on by them to the consumers of the end products.