GUJARAT AMBUJA EXPORTS LTD Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD learned counsel for the parties. By means of this writ petition, the petitioners have sought a writ in the nature of certiorari quashing the notice-cum-demand dated 15-2-2012 (Annexure No.1) and have also challenged the vires of Section 27(c)(iii) of the Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development & Regulation) Act, 2011 (for short the Act) read with Section 2(xx) of the Act.

(2.) ACCORDING to the petitioners, the petitioner no.1 company is engaged in manufacturing of Maize Starch and other Starch derivatives. The raw material required for the same is Hybrid Maize. The petitioners purchase the raw material from outside the State and the raw material is brought within the Mandi area for the purposes of manufacture of Maize Starch and other starch derivatives, therefore, the petitioners are not covered by the definition given under Section 27(c)(iii) of the Act and barley is not being stored for the purposes of sale. ACCORDING to the petitioners, the petitioners are not undertaking any activity of sale of notified agricultural produce brought by them from outside the State and that the activity of storage and that of processing of the said agricultural produce which has been brought by the petitioners is not an activity in connection with or incidental to the sale of the said imported agricultural produce. ACCORDING to the petitioners, the activity of storage and processing of the said agricultural produce is directly in connection with using the same as part of manufacturing process/activity of Maize starch as also Glucose in the factory of the petitioners, which is located within the present market area.

(3.) LEARNED counsel for the petitioners has further relied upon the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Orient Paper & Industries Ltd. Vs. State of M.P. and others [(2006) 12 Supreme Court Cases, 468], wherein the Apex Court has dealt with the definition of the words "market fee" and "processing" and it has been held in paragraph no. 22 that when after the notified agricultural produce is brought within the State into the market area from outside the State and in case the same must be used for processing and the end-user is manufacture, the levy of market fee is not attracted. In the case at hand, the stand of the petitioners is that the hybrid maize is brought from outside the State into the market-area and the same is used for processing and the end-user is "maize starch" and "glucose".