HIND FERTILIZERS Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner-Company is a manufacturer of fertilizer under a licence granted to it by the Director General of Agriculture, Haryana under Clauses 15(2) and 18(2) of the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985 (for short "the FCO 1985"). Clause 15 of the FCO 1985 deals with grant of or refusal of certificate of manufacture, import for preparation of mixtures of fertilizer whereas Clause 18 deals with renewal of certificates. The petitioner was granted Certificate of Manufacture under Form "F" on 19.12.1995 valid till 8.12.1998. One of the 6 kinds of NPK Granulated Mixture available in the market is a fertilizer known as NPK 12:32:16. Manufacture of 12:32:16 NPK was renewed upto 18.12.2001 and then upto 18.12.2004 and thereafter upto 17.12.2007. The petitioner's application for renewal was considered and vide letter dated 5.3.2008, the Company was granted certificate of manufacture of 12:32:00 NPK and 15:15:7-1/2 NPK upto 17.12.2010 (P-2). The company was, therefore, prohibited from manufacturing 12:32:16 NPK. Aggrieved by deletion of two grades of NPK i.e. 12:32:16 and 20:20:00 from the earlier list, the petitioner petitioned the Registering Authority-cum-Director General, Agriculture, Haryana against the non-speaking order passed by the lower authority. The appeal was allowed to the extent that a direction was issued to the Deputy Director, Agriculture, Ambala, Haryana respondent No. 3 to pass a speaking order.

(2.) In the light of that order, the petitioner moved a representation dated 1.6.2008 before the 3rd respondent. The petitioner made an offer that it will not manufacture or sell NPK 12:32:16 and 20:20:00 in the State of Haryana. On the basis of the undertaking given, the petitioner was licensed to manufacture two grades of NPK which were added in Form "F" authorizing it to manufacture those products to be sold in other States but not in the State of Haryana. The renewed licence was granted on 16.10.2008 and that is how the petitioner started manufacturing of the earlier prohibited fertilizers for sale in Madhya Pradesh.

(3.) The Registering Authority vide order dated 23.4.2010 (P-7) permitted the petitioner to selling NPK 12:32:16 and six other grades of fertilizers in the State of Haryana. It is then said that the petitioner's Managing Director was implicated in a false case and an FIR No. 48 dated 13.7.2010 under Sections 420/120B of the IPC read with Essential Commodities Act was registered against him for violation of conditions of sale certificate and for selling prohibited NPK 12:32:16 in the State of Haryana.