KRISHNA DATTATRAYA PATIL Vs. TUKARAM SIDU NALAWADE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE three petitions are based on common set of facts and raise common question of law and, therefore, are being disposed of together by this judgment.

(2.) THESE petitions are filed for quashing the complaints and the charge-sheet filed in the Special Court, Sangli under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act. Petitioners are sought to be prosecuted under section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act and for contravening the order made under section 3 of the Act on the allegation of the contravention of the order passed by the Government of Maharashtra being Maharashtra Sugar Factories (Reservation of Area of Regulation of Crushing for Sugarcane Supply) Order, 1984. Under the said order about 150 villages had been reserved for the respondent No. 2-Karkhana who had obtained a licence from the Commissioner of Sugar, Maharashtra State, Pune. By virtue of the said order, respondent No. 2 Karkhana was entitled to harvest sugarcane of members as well as non-members sown in the area of those 150 villages which could not be harvested by any other factory without express permit obtained in that behalf. It was alleged in the complaint filed on 19-11-1991 that though the agricultural land of one Shri Kumar Bhopal Wadkar comes in the reserved area of the respondent No. 2, the sugarcane standing in his land was illegally transported to Hutatma Kisan Aher Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd. , Sangli of which the accused petitioner No. 1 is the Managing Director and petitioner No. 2 is Agricultural Officer. The complaint gives the particulars of the tractor and the trailers which were used for the illegal transportation of the sugarcane to the petitioners Karkhana. It is further alleged in the complaint that the petitioners, who are the Managing Director and the Agricultural Officer of the said Karkhana, were responsible for transporting the sugarcane to their Karkhana illegally and thus were liable to be prosecuted under section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act.

(3.) SECTION 7 of the Essential Commodities Act makes punishable the contravention of any order made under section 3 of the Act. The Government of India had passed an order called Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act. Pursuant to the authorisation given by the Central Government under the above Order of 1966, the Government of Maharashtra had issued the aforesaid Order of 1984. Though the Government of Maharashtra has passed the order in the year 1984, by an amendment made to the said Order by Notification issued by the Government of Maharashtra on 14-1-1988 Clause 14 was inserted in the Order of 1984 under the heading penalty which provides as follows: