Incidental licensing powers extend to fixing the day for a hat or fair when needed to regulate the licence.

A statutory power to grant a licence for holding a hat or fair carries incidental and consequential authority to supervise, control and manage the activity within the local area. The specification of the day for holding the fair was treated as directly connected with effective exercise of that licensing power, and not as an extraneous matter. In the absence of an express prohibition, the grant of power included the authority reasonably necessary to regulate its exercise. The Panchayat Samiti therefore had power to fix the day for the hat or fair.

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Issues: Whether a Panchayat Samiti empowered to grant a licence for holding a hat or fair under section 117 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 also has the incidental or consequential power to specify the day on which the hat or fair is to be held.

Analysis: The power conferred by section 117 was held to include not merely the formal grant of a licence but also the authority to supervise, control and manage the hat or fair within the local area. A statutory grant of power carries with it all powers that may fairly and reasonably be regarded as incidental or consequential to its exercise, unless expressly prohibited. The specification of a day for holding the fair was treated as directly connected with the effective exercise of the licensing power and not as an extraneous matter. The absence of an express rule did not cut down the substantive statutory power.

Conclusion: The Panchayat Samiti had the incidental and consequential power to specify the day for holding the hat or fair.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute confers power to grant a licence for a local activity, the authority is deemed to possess all incidental or consequential powers reasonably necessary to regulate the effective exercise of that licensing power, unless the statute expressly excludes them.

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