LALA RAJ KISHORE Vs. DISTRICT BOARD OF SEHARANPUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution by eight persons, who own machine, for hulling rice, or a flour mill, or an oil crusher or a sugar-cane crusher. Respondent No. 1 is the district Board of Shaharanpur and respondent No. 2 to 5 are lessees of the right of the respondent No. 1 to collect licence fee from the petitioners and others.

(2.) ON 17-1-1948 the District Board of Shaharanpur (respondent No. 1) approved certain draft bye-laws by means of a resolution and directed their publication in papers. They were published in the Hindi Weekly called "hindu", and in the English Weekly called the "peoples General of shaharanpur". After the publication, the matter came up before the Board on 11-11-1948 when the Board finally approved the bye-laws and resolved that they should be submitted to the commissioner for his sanction. The Commissioner sanctioned them and the bye-laws were published in the U. P. Gazette dated 28-5-1949, when they came into operation. These bye-laws were purported to have been framed under Section 174 (2) (K) of the U. P. District Boards Act, and they directed the levy of a licence fee of Rs. 500/- per year on sugar factories propelled by petrol, steam or electricity, a fee of Rs. 100/-per year on crushers propelled by petrol, steam or electricity, a fee of Rs. 100/- on centrifugal machines propelled by engines, and a fee of Rs. 50/- each on certain flour mills, oil mills, rice making machines, sawing machines, cotton cloth mills and certain other machines.

(3.) UNDER bye-law No. 1 the word "factory" was to include sugar factory, flour mills, oil machines, rice making machines, cotton machines and sawing machines. Sugar factory was said to include any factory in which sugar was prepared from sugar-cane juice or from molasses or in which Gur is prepared from 'shira' and which was worked by electricity, steam or oil, or by manual labour by the old Knauchi or Bojha system, or by centrifugal machines. Flour mills, oil, cotton, rice-making and sawing machines were to mean all such machines where work was done by electricity or petrol or water or wind or any other mechanical contrivance. The machines worked by all the different petitioners cams within the definition of factory. Bye-law No. 3 prohibited the starting, establishing or maintaining of any factory within the rural area of Shaharanpur district, unless a licence had been granted on payment of the prescribed fee. Bye-law No. 4 made the Secretary of the District Board as the Licensing Officer for the purposes of these bye-laws and an appeal against his decision was to lie to the President of the district Board. Certain conditions for the grant of the licence were imposed by bye-law No. 5 and the licence fee mentioned above was imposed by bye-law No. 6. Bye-law No. 7 provided for the procedure for making an application; bye-law No. 8 provided the period during which a licence was to remain in force and bye-law No. 9 authorised the licencing officer to suspend a licence. At the end the penalty for disobedience of the bye-laws was provided, which could extend to Rs. 100/-, and, in the event of a continuing breach, might extend to Rs. 5/- for every day after the first conviction during the period that the offender was proved to have persisted in the continuance of the offence.