VISHNU SUGAR MILLS LIMITED Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALL these four writ petitions arises from disputes over reservation of villages made in favour of different sugarcane mills for exclusive purchase of sugarcane grown in those villages. M/s Vishnu Sugar Mills Limited filed C.W.J.C. No. 15586 of 2004, challenging the communication, dated 30.9.2004 enclosing a copy of the order passed by the Cane Commissioner, Bihar on 28.9.2004 by which 23 villages (a list of which is appended to the order) of East Champaran district were reserved for crushing season 2004 -05 in favour of respondent no. 4 M/s Sasamusa Sugar Works Limited. According to the petitioner, for the purpose of reservation of villages in terms of Section 31 of the Bihar Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1981a meeting was convened by the Cane Commissioner on 24.9.2004 in which the representatives of all sugar mills took part and in which the proposals submitted by the different sugar mills for reservation of villages in their favour were considered. It was alleged by the petitioner that neither in the proposal made by respondent no. 4 nor in course of the meeting held on 24.9.2004, there was any suggestion of the 23 villages in question being reserved for respondent no. 4. ft was further the case of the petitioner that after the meeting was over, a supplementary proposal (for which there is no provision in the Act) was submitted on behalf of respondent no. 4 for reservation of 36 additional villages of East Champaran in their favour. On the supplementary proposal, the Cane Commissioner asked for a report from the Cane Officer, Motihari. From the record, it would appear that the report was submitted on 29.9.2004 but the impugned order showed that the reservation of the disputed 23 villages was made in favour of the respondent no. 4, a day earlier, even without waiting for the report from the Cane Officer even though the order purports to refer to the report by the Cane Officer.

(2.) MR . Y.V. Giri, Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioner submitted that the reservation of the 23 villages of East Champaran (apart from the 390 villages that are traditionally reserved to respondent no. 4 from year to year) was quite illegal, in violation of the provisions of Section 31 of the Act apart from being in breach of the principles of natural justice.

(3.) TO the writ petition filed by M/s Vishnu Sugar Mills Limited (C.W.J.C. No. 15586 of 2004), M/s Sasamusa Sugar Works Limited -respondent no. 4 responded by filing three writ petitions. In two of the writ petitions being C.W.J.C. Nos. 16311 of 2004 and 174 of 2005, the reservation of villages of East Champaran district came under challenge and in C.W.J.C. No. 343 of 2005 M/s Sasamusa Sugar Works Limited sought to challenge the entire reservation made in favour of M/s Vishnu Sugar Mills Limited and M/s Bharat Sugar Milts Limited.