HAJI ABDUL GHAFOOR Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an application by Haji Abdul Ghafoor under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) THE case of the applicant is that he is a citizen of India and resident of Rajasthan in Bilara Tahsil, Jodhpur district. He is butcher by caste, and carries on the business of rearing sheep and goats. As is usual in Ran-sigaon, he has to carry his animals outside Marwar, and sometimes even outside Rajasthan, after the rainy season is over, in order that they may not perish for want of grazing. He had been doing so far a number of years and used to get Khali Chitthi under sec. 71 of the Marwar Customs Act, 1949. He applied again as usual in October, 1953. This time, however, he was told that he could not be given any Khali Chitthi and that he must pay the export duty in full, and reliance was placed by the Customs authorities on exception 2 to sec. 61 of the Marwar Customs Act. THE applicant, aggrieved by this order, has come to this Court, and his contention is that exception 2 to sec. 61 of the Marwar Customs Act is discriminatory and against Arts. 14 and 15 of the Constitution. He, therefore, prays for a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus ordering the Customs authorities to issue a Khali Chitthi in the terms of sec. 71 of the Marwar Customs Act.