CHAWARE OIL INDUSTRIES KARANJA Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since in this batch of 15 petitions, common questions are involved, they are heard together and are being disposed of by a common judgment.

(2.) The petitioners are cotton-seed dealers and/or crushers who purchase cotton-seed for their business. Various Market Committees constituted under S.11 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act 1963 ('the APM Act' for short) issued notices to the petitioners demanding on the transactions of purchase of cotton-seed, market-fee and supervision charges respectively in terms of S.31 and Chap IV-A of the APM Act read with R.32 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Rules 1967 ('the APM Rules' for short). The validity of these demands is questioned in these petitions.

(3.) The necessary factual as well as legal back ground may be noticed first. In the State of Maharashtra exists the Maharashtra Raw Cotton (Procurement, Process and Marketing) Act, 1971 ('the RC Act' for short). It provides for carrying of all monopoly trade in raw cotton for certain time. S.2(g) defines 'cotton' as meaning raw cotton, whether ginned or unginned and S.2(m) defines 'Kapas' as meaning unginned cotton. For the sake of convenience we will use the word 'lint' for ginned cotton. This Act also defines 'Market area' and 'marketing committee' giving to them the same meaning as is assigned under the APM Act. S.17 totally prohibits carrying on business in cotton other than baled cotton by any person other than State or its agent except with previous permission. S.18 prohibits (without the previous permission of the State) owners of cotton ginning factories from ginning in the factory any Kapas other than Kapas to be ginned on Government account. The similar restrictions apply also against pressing lint into bales to the pressing factories. S.19 contains the prohibition on transport outside the State of cotton other than baled cotton. Under S.20 every grower of cotton who intends to sell his cotton is obliged to sell his produce only to the Government by tendering it at collection centre. S.21A obliges every market committee to designate and maintain one or more convenient places as may be found necessary, for tendering cotton, by the growers and other sellers. S.22 provides for grading and pooling of the cotton at collection centres. S.23 mandates weighment of all cotton in accordance with the provisions of the APM Act. S.39 contained in Chap. IX dealing with the subject of disposal of cotton seeds mandates its disposal only in a particular manner and mode. It provides that the graded Kapas pooled under S.22 has to be ginned separately, in the same lots into which the kapas has been graded and that after setting aside the cotton seed required for issue to the cotton growers for cultivation in the controlled areas, the registered seed growers, the Taluka Seed Multiplication Farms and such other persons as may be prescribed, the remaining cotton seed shall be sold after taking into consideration the advice tendered by the Advisory Board in this behalf, preference being given to the local growers. In these petitions we are essentially concerned with cotton seed so graded and pooled out of kapas brought at collection centres under the RC Act.