MURALIDHAR SAHU Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) VALIDITY of Clauses 6 and 7 of the order of the Government in the Forest and Environment Department communicated in letter No. 1781l/F&E.; dated 7.11.2000 (Annexure -1) is the subject matter of challenge in this writ petition. Under the impugned Clause 6. the Divisional Forest Officers have been empowered for regulating the transport of Sal leaves including leaf plates and leaf cups made out of Sal leaves by issue of transit permits. As per the impugned Clause - 7, royalty is leviable at 5% of the collection price of Sal leaves. By the Government order of the Forest and Environment Department contained in letter No. 20437/F&E; dated 20.12.2000 (Annexure -A/3) levy of royalty stipulated under the aforesaid Clause -7 has been withdrawn. Therefore, the writ petition challenging the impugned Clause - 7 has become infructuous. What now remains to be decided is the validity of the impugned Clause - 6 of the Government order (Annexure -1).

(2.) THE petitioners are traders and transporters of leaf plates and leaf cups made out of Sal leaves. Their case is that they have been transporting finished leaf plates and leaf cups made out of Sal leaves to different places in the State as well as outside the State without any objection from any departmental authorities. By trading and transporting leaf plates and leaf cups not only they earn some income, they also help the primary collectors of Sal leaves to earn their livelihood by making finished items as leaf plates and leaf cups out of Sal leaves. By production of finished items like leaf plates and leaf cups, the original nature of Sal leaves lose their identity and therefore, they cannot be regarded as 'forest produce'. As such, for transport of leaf plates and leaf cups, no transit permit is necessary. According to them, the impugned Clause -6 of the Government order contained at Annexure -1 is illegal and arbitrary being violative of the provisions of Articles - 14 and 19 of the Constitution. The opposite parties have filed their counter affidavit justifying the necessity of transit permit in respect of transport of leaf plates and leaf cups made out of Sal leaves.

(3.) THE next question is whether by making leaf plates and leaf cups out of Sal leaves, the latter lose their identity. The contention of the petitioners is that with the making of leaf plates and leaf cups a new product comes into existence, thereby Sal leaves lose their identity. In this connection, the petitioners heavily relied on order of this Court dated 7.5.1987 in OJC No. 1503 of 1987 (Rusi Sahu v. State of Orissa). judgment dated 13.5.1998 in OJC No. 6972 of 1995 (Bhagaban Das Agarwalla v. State of Orissa. 86 (1998) C.L.T. 155) as well as order dated 22.12.1989 of the Calcutta High Court in Civil Order No. 8200 (W) of 1989. Counsel for the department placed reliance on the judgment dated 4.9.1990 of this Court rendered in O.J.C. Nos. 1162 and 1223 of 1990 (Gangadhar Sahu v. State of Orissa) in which it has been held that Siali leaves do not cease to be Siali leaves when they are stitched together to make a plate or cup.