RAMBHAI NATHABHAI WAGHELA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY the above Writ Petitions, Petitioners seek to challenge the validity of the Notification dated 4.8.1995 passed by the Respondent No. 1 under the provisions of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1956.

(2.) SINCE both the Petitions raise common question of law, they are being disposed of together. For the sake of convenience the facts in Writ Petition No. 616 of 1996 are reproduced hereinbelow.

(3.) PETITIONERS and their Advocate have chosen to remain absent. We have gone through the records with the assistance of the learned Advocate appearing for the Respondent No. 4. The recital to the impugned Notification clearly indicates that the Government has taken appropriate steps in issuance of the impugned Notification. The said impugned Notification has been issued under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1956. The recital makes it very clear that the Notification has been issued after inviting the objections from the public. In the present matter, as a matter of policy, the Government has taken appropriate steps to introduce the Notification particularly in view of the fact that edible oil is consumed by the consumers throughout the Country and for hygienic reasons it was very important for the Government to introduce the impugned Notification which insists on non -user of the second hand tins in which the edible oil is packed. It cannot be therefore said by any stretch of imagination that the said Notification is arbitrary. In the present matter, we do not find any merit in the Petition that merely on the ground of paucity of the quantity of tin plates the impugned Notification be struck down. There is no basis whatsoever disclosed in the Petition in any event with regard to loss of foreign exchange as alleged by the Petitioner. On the contrary user of second hand or third hand tins for packing edible oil may constitute health hazards. Even the recent incidents prove that such possibilities cannot be ruled out. Taking into account the facts and circumstances of the case, we do not find any merit in the Writ Petitions.