MUNICIPAL COUNCIL Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS application under Article 226 of the Constitution by the Municipal Council, ranker, is for the issue of a writ of eertiorari for quashing the notifications issued by the Government on 12th September 1963, 24th September 1964 and 27th november 1964 under the Madhya Pradesh Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1960, (hereinafter referred to as the Act), with regard to the establishment of a market for regulating the purchase and tale of the agricultural produce specified in the notification dated the 24th September 1964 for the areas mentioned in that notification and declaring the areas notified by the notification dated the 27th November 1964 as the principal market yard and market proper The petitioner-Council also seeks a direction restraining the opponent-State from giving effect to the aforesaid notifications, and a direction to the respondent No. 2, the Kamala nehru Rrishi-upaj Mandi Samiti. Ranker, restraining that Samiti from interfering with the management of a market said to be owned and run by the Council on an area of 3. 19 acres of Rhasra No. 384 included in the area notified on 24th september 1964.

(2.) THE first notification was issued by the Government on 12th September 1963 in the exercise of its powers under Section 3 (1) of the Act declaring its intention to establish a market for regulating the purchase and sale of the agricultural produce enumerated in the notification and in the areas specified in the notification. After considering the objections and suggestions received to the proposal contained in the notification dated the 12th September 1963, the Government issued another notification under Section 3 (3) of the Act establishing a market at Kanker "in the area comprising all Revenue and Forest villages falling within Development Block ranker, in Ranker Tahsil of Bastar District" for regulating the purchase and sale of the agricultural produce specified in the Schedule to the notification On 27th november 1964 a notification was issued under Section 3 (4) of the Act declaring the locality specified in that notification to be the "principal market yard" On that date, the Government also issued a notification in the exercise of the powers conferred by rule 53 of the Madhya Pradesh Agricultural Produce Markets Rules, 1962, declaring (a) the area falling within the jurisdiction of the Municipal Council, and (b) the area included in the villages, enumerated in that notification of Tehsil kanker, falling within the distance of about three miles from the Principal Market yard, as the "market proper" for Mandi Ranker of Bastar district. For the area for which the market was established by the notification under Section 3, the government constituted a Market Committee which is known and styled as "kamla nehru Rrishiupaj Mandi Samiti".

(3.) ACCORDING to the petitioner-Council, this Mandi-Samiti is interfering with the management of the municipal market owned and run by it, that is the Council, and is also without any authority recovering rent in respect of shop-sites within the municipal market and also realising fees from traders exposing their goods for sale in the municipal market, and recovering licence-fees from flour-mills located in the municipal market and from merchants trading in agricultural and forest produce in the municipal market.