BALLARPUR INDUSTRIES LTD Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The claim of the petitioner company in the instant writ petition is that it is entitled to the benefit of a concessional rate in respect of sale of white printing paper manufactured by it as per the notification of the Central Government issued in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under sub-rule (1) of Rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 (for short, "the Rules") framed under the provisions of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (for short, "the Act"). The petitioners have, therefore, prayed for quashing of the orders passed by the Assistant Collector, Central Excise, Division Chandrapur, having his office at Nagpur referred to in Exhibit 'M' to the petition and also have asked for a writ of prohibition or any other appropriate writ, order or direction against him from proceeding with the show-cause notices mentioned in the said Exhibit 'M' to the petition.

(2.) Briefly, the facts are that the petitioner No. 1 is a private limited company registered under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956. The petitioner No. 2 is a share-holder of the said company. The petitioner No. 1 is a leading manufacturer of various qualities of paper having its factory at Ballarpur in the district Chandrapur. Since the paper was a controlled and/or essential commodity under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, in order to maintain and to increase supplies of paper and for securing its equitable distribution and availability at fair prices, the Central Government in the exercise of the power under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, issued an order known as "Paper (Regulation of Production) Order, 1978" (for short, "the Paper Regulation Order").

(3.) The expression "white printing paper" is defined under Clause 2(i) in the Paper Regulation Order. In regard to the said white printing paper, Clause 3(a) of the said Order provided that every manufacturer should manufacture in respect of every month commencing on and from the 1st day of April 1978, and every quarter commencing on and from the 1st day of April 1978, white printing paper upto the extent of at least 30 per cent. of the total quantity of paper and paper boards manufactured by him during the month or the quarter as the case may be. Clause 6 of the said Order prohibited the manufacturer from manufacturing and other variety of paper tinted with any colour with which white printing paper is required to be tinted under sub-clause (1) of Clause 5. Clause 7 provided that the manufacturer should stamp on very ream of paper and every gross of paper board manufactured by him, the ex-factory sale price and retail sale price of such paper or paper board. There were some amendments made to the Paper Regulation Order by an order issued on 16-10-1979 with which we are not directly concerned in the instant writ petition except that in Clause 2(3)(a) of the aforesaid Order it was provided that white printing paper should be manufactured to the extent specified in the said clause or to the maximum extent of the installed capacity capable of utilisation for the manufacture of writing and printing paper for the month or the quarter, as the case may be, whichever is lower.