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7. Therefore the first question that arises is whether solvent Extracted Rice Bran, Solvent Extracted Groundnut oil cake and solvent Extracted cottonseed oil cake are essential commodities

8. Essential commodity is defined in S.2 (a) of the Act. It reads:

"2. (A) 'essential commodity, meands any of following classes of commodities:-

(i) foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils".

The term 'essential commodity' in Cl. (a) of S. 2 is an inclusive definition. It enumerates ten items and empowers the Central Government to declare of the Act. Under item (I) of S. 2 (a) cattle fodder includng oil-cake is an 'essential commodity. It is well known that deoiled rice bran is an essential ingredient used in the cattle fodder. This ingredient is being used by the darily and poultry farmers for the last one decade in the place of raw rice bran. Since the raw-rice bran, by virtue of its oil content, will develop rancidity due to over storage, which will be deterimental to vitamin E in the feed, the raw rice bran is replaced by solvent extracted rice bran in the preparation of cattle and poultry feed. Therefore the solvent extracted rice Bran. Solvent Extracted Groundnut oil cake and solvent extracted cottonseed oil cake in our opinion are Essential commodities as defined in S. 2 (a) (I) of the Act. They are also 'foodstuffs' within the meaning of S. 2 (a) (I) of the Act. Theya re also food stuffs' within the meaning of S. 2 (a) (v0 of the Act. The Supreme Court in M/s. Sat pal gupta v. State of Haryana had an occasion to consider whether rice bran is foodstuff within the meaning of S. 2 (a) (v) of the Act. The Supreme Court held (para 5):