Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

2.20 per hundred rupees. Telegraphic instructions were issued by the Punjab Board to the various Market Committees directing them to charge Rs. 2/- only with effect from August 23, 1975 after the passing of the Act 14 of 1973 on August 8, 1975. The increase in the rates of fee, the last one being in August, 1975, were again challenged in the High Court. But the Full Bench which finally heard the Writ Petition upheld the increases by its judgment delivered on January 28, 1977, which is reported in Kewal Krishan Puri and another v. The State of Punjab and others. Civil Appeal 1083 of 1977 has been preferred in this Court from the said judgment of the High Court.

The enhancement of fee from Re. 1/- to Rs. 1.50 was upheld but the further increase to Rs. 2.25 was knocked down.

We may note here that in the batch of appeals we heard there was no appeal from the judgment of the High Court in the case of Hanuman Dall & General Mills. We may reasonably assume, therefore, that the dealers of Haryana were reconciled for payment of the market fees upto the maximum limit of two rupees per hundred rupees. In the case of Punjab, as we traced the history at the very outset, the maximum fixed later was Rs. 2.20 by Act 14 of 1975. But by telegraphic instructions issued by the Board the Market Committees were asked to charge Rs. 2/- only with effect from 23-8-1975. This was challenged before the High Court but unsuccessfully in the case of Kewal Krishan Puri and another v. The State of Punjab and others (supra). Civil Appeal 1083 of 1977 is from this judgment of the High Court. The Full Bench judgment in this case also suffers more or less from the same kind of error in the approach of the legal problem as is to be found in the earlier Division Bench decision. In paragraph 13 of the judgment at page 352 the High Court repelled the attack on clauses (x), (xi) and

One has to stretch one's imagination almost to a breaking point to say that the programme of link roads and improvement of agricultural say production by the means mentioned in item (xii) can all be carried out by the impost of fee in the market.

In a new affidavit of Shri N. S. Bakshi filed in this Court in Civil Appeal 1083 of 1977 it is stated in paragraph 6 that in the entire Khanna market notified area there is one principal yard; two sub-yards and only two purchase centres and no weighing bridge or any weighing facilities has been provided by the Committee. It is stated in paragraph 7 that "amount of Rs. 3/- lacs lying with the Khanna Market Committee during March, 1978 in Banks was got deposited in the Government Treasury under the orders and directions of the Board." These facts are disputed. But we are merely stating them for the future guidance of the authorities that they should proceed in the matter cautiously keeping in view the law laid down by this Court in earlier cases, such as, Salvation Army case, and in the light of this judgment. In the additional affidavit of Shri K. K. Puri it is stated that from the information gathered it was learnt that the Punjab Board had spent about a crore of rupees by way of subsidy @ 75% for the metallic bins for the use of the villagers for their domestic use; a crore for air spray; five crores to the Punjab State Electricity Board, one crore given to MARKFED, one and a half crore to Soil Conservation Department and yet nine crores were lying surplus with the various Market Committees. The figure may be exaggerated but are not quite groundless. We are merely quoting them for the future caution of the authorities concerned. Puri has further pointed out in paragraph 17 of his affidavit that in the Estimated Expenditure in the proposed Budget of the Moga Committee for the years 1976-77 and 1977-78 several lakhs of rupees were shown for insecticides and pesticides apart from other inadmissible expenses. We may again pin-point the difference. If insecticides and pesticides are for use at the place where actually the marketing operations are carried on it would be a justifiable expenditure. But if they are meant to be supplied to the agriculturists for use at their village homes or in their fields surely they cannot be valid expenditure out of the collections of the market fee.