K NARASINGA RAO Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In exercise of his powers under Ss. 395 and 482 of the Criminal P.C. the Special Judge appointed for trial of cases under the Essential Commodities Act referred the above matters to this Court raising the question as to the validity of G.O.Ms. No. 610, Food and Agriculture (C.S. III) Department, dt. 2 3/11/1984. G.O.Ms. No. 610 is an order made by the State Government under the Essential Commodities Act whereby all Two Star and above Two Star Hotels and also those hotels which are approved by the Tourism Department of Government of India for awarding Two Star and above Two star Hotels status are exempted from the purview of the Andhra Pradesh Catering Establishments (Fixation and Display of Prices of Food Stuffs) Order, 1978. The effect of G.O.Ms. No. 610 is to make the Andhra Pradesh Catering Establishments Order applicable only to the hotels which are below Two Star status. The accused in these cases are such hoteliers.

(2.) The accused in these cases were charged with violating the directions contained in Clauses 1, 2 and 6(b) of the above G.O.Ms. No. 610. They were being tried under S. 7 of the essential Commodities Act, 1955. They have objected to their being tried on the ground that while the law provided exemption to the Two Star Hotels and above Two Star Hotels from the operation of the penal provisions, they are being prosecuted for the violation of the abovementioned law. Their contention in essence is that directions, 1, 2 and 6(b) contained in G.O.Ms. No. 610 issued under Clause 12 of the Andhra Pradesh Catering Establishments (Fixation and Display of Prices of Food Stuffs) order, 1978 are discriminatory and are, therefore, unconstitutional. Unable to resist the attraction of these none too novel constitutional submissions made by the suitors from time to time the learned Special Judge had held that the exemption granted to the Two Star and above Two Star hotels is discriminatory and is, therefore, not justified. He had, therefore, referred these matters for the decision of this Court on the constitutional validity of the exemption granted to the Two Star and above Two Star Hotels from the purview of the abovementioned provisions of law. On 13/05/1986, when these references have come before me, I have summarily rejected them for reasons to be given later. Now on an application field by the accused in Crl. M.P.S.R. No. 2835 of 1986, I have reached these matters.

(3.) In Criminal Appeals Nos. 443 and 444 of 1985, our Supreme Court had considered a similar arguments relating to an exactly similar order passed under the Essential Commodities Act. The Supreme Court by its order dt. 6/05/1986 rejected the contentions of the accused in those cases in the following wards.