HITESH KUMAR SHARMA Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD Mr. D. S. Patni, Advocate for the petitioners and Mr. U. K. Uniyal, Advocate General assisted by Mr. Paresh Tripathi, Additional Chief Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand.

(2.) IN all the abovementioned writ petitions before this Court, what is common is the challenge to the impugned order dated 06.09.2012 issued by the State Government by which a modification was made to its earlier order passed a day earlier i.e. on 05.09.2012. Vide order dated 05.09.2012 His Excellency, the Governor was pleased to grant approval for the appointment of the petitioners as Members/Chairman/Vice Chairman of the respective market committees. By this order (dated 05.09.2012), a list was declared by which first members were appointed and subsequently the Chairman out of the members were nominated, including the present petitioners. On the very next day i.e. 06.09.2012, the State Government again passed the order, inter -alia, cancelling the appointments of members/ Chairman/Vice Chairman of three Market Committees i.e. Mangalore, Jwalapur and Gadarpur. These modifications, which have been brought by the impugned order dated 06.09.2012, affect the present petitioners.

(3.) BEFORE dealing with the arguments of learned counsel for the parties, it would be first worthwhile to narrate the purpose of these Marketing Committees in the State, the manner in which the members and Chairman of the Committee are to be appointed etc. The Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2011 (hereinafter referred to as Act) was enacted in order to provide for the effective regulation in marketing of agricultural produce, establishment and development of proper and modern marketing system, promotion of agricultural processing and agricultural export, superintendence and control of markets in the State of Uttarakhand and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. For the said purposes, a Committee or more popularly known as "Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee" is constituted for each market area. Section 16 of the Act provides that for every market area, there shall be a Market Committee which shall have jurisdiction over the entire market area. Section 17 of the Act provides the provisions for constitution of a Committee, which shall consist of the members to be nominated by the State Government. Section 17 of the Act provides as under: "Constitution of the Committee 17.