WOOL INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION LTD Vs. KHADI AND VILLAGE INDUSTRIES COMMISSION BOMBAY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Under the provisions of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act, 1956 which will be referred to as the Act in the course of this judgment, a Commission known as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, will be referred to as the Commission, was established under Section 4 of that Act. The purpose of the Act was the development of Khadi and village industries and other matters connected therewith, and, Section 15 of the Act enumerated the functions of the Commission which included the encouragement of the production of Khadi and the development of village industries and research in the technique of the production of Khadi. Section 19 of the Act authorised the Commission to spend such sums of money as it thought fit on the purposes authorised by the Act.

(2.) At one stage the commission decided for the encouragement of the production of woollen blankets, to pay rebate on the retail sales of such woollen blankets referred to as kambals and kambalis at the rate of 10%. Pursuant to a decision which was reached by the Commission as a result of the investigation which it made on 19/20th November 1967, the payment of such rebate with respect to retail sales of blankets was discontinued with effect from April 1, 1968. The petitioner before us is a co-operative society which engages itself in the manufacture of woollen blankets. According to the affidavit produced on its behalf in this writ petition, it purchases wool from others and manufactures blankets and sells them both to retail and wholesale purchasers.

(3.) The complaint made on behalf of the petitioner in this writ petition is that the discontinuance of the payment of rebate by the Commission was discriminatory and transgressed the right of the society to continuance of that assistance, and so, it asks us to quash the resolution and decisions of the Commission by which the payment of rebate on retail sales of woollen blankets was discontinued. It also asks for a direction to respondent 1 which is the Commission and respondent 2 who is the Director of Khadi and Village Industries Commission in Mysore to continue to allow the rebate which the society was receiving until now.