Statutory exemption for non-insecticidal use bars import-permit and registration conditions for Acrylonitrile imports.

Section 38 of the Insecticides Act, 1968 excludes scheduled substances intended for non-insecticidal purposes from the Act's operation. Acrylonitrile imported as a raw material for manufacture of synthetic rubber and other goods therefore fell within the statutory exemption, so the registration requirement under Section 9 could not be insisted upon. A public notice making an import permit mandatory for such non-insecticidal imports was inconsistent with the Act and could not validly override the exemption. The analysis also noted support from a similar Kerala High Court view and the absence of any contrary central notification requiring a permit.

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Issues: Whether Acrylonitrile imported for non-insecticidal use was exempt from the registration and import-permit requirements under the Insecticides Act, 1968, and whether the impugned public notice could validly insist on such permit.

Analysis: Acrylonitrile was accepted to be a scheduled substance under the Act, but the record also showed that the petitioner imported it only as a raw material for manufacture of synthetic rubber and other goods, i.e. for non-insecticidal purposes. Section 38 of the Insecticides Act, 1968 begins with a non obstante clause and expressly provides that nothing in the Act applies to any scheduled substance intended for purposes other than preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating insects and similar life forms. Once the respondents did not dispute non-insecticidal use, the consequence was that the Act itself did not apply to such imports, and the registration requirement under Section 9 could not be insisted upon. The impugned public notice, insofar as it made import permit mandatory for Acrylonitrile even for non-insecticidal use, was inconsistent with the statutory exemption. The Court also noticed the persuasive force of the Kerala High Court's reasoning on an identical issue and found no contrary central notification requiring such permit.

Conclusion: The requirement of import permit and registration for Acrylonitrile imported for non-insecticidal use was held inapplicable, and the challenge to the public notice succeeded in favour of the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a scheduled insecticidal substance is admittedly imported for a purpose covered by the statutory exemption in Section 38, the Insecticides Act, 1968 does not apply and registration or import-permit conditions cannot be imposed by executive notice.

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