PARAMJIT KHAD STORE KAPURTHALA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this judgment, we propose to dispose of C.W.P. Nos. 11358, 11360, l1391, 11427 to 11430, 11438, 11498, 11933, 11966, 11975, 11983, 11984, 12043 to 12045, 12664 and 13258 of 1991. The facts of the case have been taken from C.W.P. No. 11428 of 1991 (M/s. Paramjit Khad Store v. Union of India).

(2.) The facts giving rise to the filing of this petition are given hereunder :- Admittedly, the manufacture, sale and purchase of fertilizer and the other ancillary matters are governed by the provisions of the Fertilizer Control Order, 1985 (hereinafter called the 'Order'), which has been promulgated by the Central Government in pursuance of the powers conferred by S. 3(1) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (hereinafter called the 'Act'). Fertilizer, being admittedly an essential commodity, is a controlled item in terms of the Act and the Order. The Central Government has, from time to time, issued instructions in the form of notifications with regard to the maximum price at which fertilizer is to be sold. The price of fertilizer had earlier been fixed by Government Notifications issued in January, 1986 and February, 1991. Vide Annexure P1, dated 25/07/1991, the Government revised the price for sale of fertilizer and fixed the maximum rate at which the various kinds of fertilizer could be sold. The earlier Notifications of 1986 and 1991 were superseded vide the Notification Annexure P1. The price was revised upwards because the subsidy that was being paid by the Central Government to the fertilizer manufacturers in order to supply fertilizer to the farmers at subsidised rates was reduced with the result that the sale price of fertilizers was substantially increased. The Government, thereafter, once again refixed the maximum price and vide Notification dated 14/08/1991, Annexure P6 (which is being impugned in the present writ petition) with a further stipulation that the stocks of fertilizer which were in hands of wholesale and retail dealers on the date of the Notification whether in Government, Private or Public Sector, would be sold at the old rates, that is, the rate fixed under the Notifications of January, 1986 and February, 1991. The petitioners, who are wholesale or retail dealers in fertilizer in the private sector, have been aggrieved by this condition of the Notification, Annexure P6, and have argued that the stocks of fertilizer which were already in their hands on the date of the Notification, Annexure P6, should also be permitted to be sold by them at the rates given in the said Notification.

(3.) In reply to the writ petition, a short affidavit has been filed broadly admitting the basic facts in the writ petition, but controverting the grievances made by the petitioners.