VISHNU SUGAR MILLSLTD Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is a company incorporated under the companies Act, 1956, and owns a sugar mill situated at Harkhua in the district of Siwan. A large amount of money became due from the petitioner on account of cane supplied to its mill by canegrowers. Under the Bihar Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase). Second Ordinance, 1972 (Bihar Ordinance 110 of 1972) arrears of the price of cane with interest thereon became recoverable as public demand or arrears of land revenue. THE Collector therefore signed a certificate in Form No. 1 for realisation of Rs. 1,37,736,58P, on account of price of cane due to the cane-growers. To this certificate was also appended a certificate from the certificate officer, Chapra, and both are contained in Annexure 1/1. THE petitioner obtained a rule from this court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution for the quashing of the certificate Proceeding, the certificate or requisition contained in Annexure 1/1 and the notice (Annexure 1) issued under Section 7 of the Bihar and Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914 (hereinafter called the Act).

(2.) A counter-affidavit has been filed on behalf of respondents 4 and 5, namely, the Cane Commissioner, Bihar, and the Cane Officer asserting that the certificate proceeding is valid

(3.) THE proceedings were started when Bihar Ordinance 110 of 1972 was in force. It may be mentioned here, although no argument was advanced with reference to this fact, that the said ordinance was replaced by subsequent Ordinances, and the last one which was in vogue at the time of the hearing of the writ case was the Bihar Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and purchase) Ordinance. 1973 (Bihar Ordinance No. 47 of 1973). Clause 43 of the Ordinance has been the same in all the Ordinances and provides for the payment of price of cane. Sub-clause (2) (i) says that as soon as cane is supplied to a factory, the occupier of such factory shall be liable to pay the price of the cane so supplied. THE factory is liable to pay interest at the rate specified in Section 51 from the date of the supply in accordance with Sub-clause (2) (ii). Apart from the fact that the occupier of the factory has been made criminally liable under Sub-clause (5) of Clause 43 of the Ordinance, Sub-clause (6) provides: