CHANDRAKANT SAHA HARDHAN DAS SHYAMALAL KUMAR ROY ASHOKUMAR PAUL DURGA PRASAD AGGARWAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A large batch of writ petitions has been filed in this Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Rice-Milling Industry (Regulation) Act, 1958 as amended in 1968, on the ground that some of the provisions of the aforesaid Act are clearly violative of Articles 14, 19 and 301 of the Constitution of India. Serious objection appears to have been taken to those provisions of the Act which require the petitioners who are owners of Rice Husking Mills or Rice Hullers to take out a licence for husking rice.

(2.) We propose to take up the writ petitions of Bijoy Kumar Majhi (Writ Petitions Nos. 1759-1949 of 1977). The main contention of the petitioners has been that there are as many as 18,000 husking mills owned and operated by various persons in the State of West Bengal and each mill employs 4 or 5 persons. The provisions of the Act which require the petitioners to take licences for operating the mills amount to a complete destruction of the fundamental right of the petitioners to carry on business and the provisions further contain unguided and uncanalised powers so as to violate the provisions of Article 14. In all the other writ petitions the arguments put forward by the petitioners in the aforesaid petitions have been completely adopted.

(3.) Writ Petitions Nos. 1135 to 1155 of 1977 have been filed by Chandra Kanta Saha and others where the petitioners have merely challenged the validity of Ordinance No. 14 of 1977 dated 9-8-1977 which has repealed portions of Rice Milling Industry (Regulation) West Bengal Second Amendment Act of 1974 and deleted Section 6A of that Act.