TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (4) TMI 921
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....Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Adv., Mr. Shubham Kulshreshtha, Adv., Mr. Yojit Mehra, Adv., Mr. Amartya Bhushan, Adv., Mr. Narender Kumar Verma, Adv., Ms. Malvika Kapila, Adv., Mr. Apoorv Khator, Adv., Mr. Tushar Bhushan, Adv., Mr. Amritya Bhushan, Adv., Ms. Anushree Menon, Adv., Mr. Mithun S., Adv., Mr. Vikas Mehta, Adv., Mr. E. C. Agrawala, Adv., Mr. Rohit K. Singh, Adv., Mr. Uday Tiwary, Adv., Mr. P. N. Razdan, Adv., Mr. Mirza Kayesh Begg, Adv., Ms. Saloni Tangri, Adv., Ms. Anshruta Maheshwari, Adv., Mr. Navpreet Singh Ahluwalia, Adv., Mr. Salil Seth, Adv., Mr. Anuj Dhingra, Adv., Mr. Neeraj Malik, Adv., Mr. Umesh Kumar Khaitan, Adv., Mr. Syed Shahid Husain Rizvi, Adv., Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Adv., Mr. Zeeshan Rizvi, Adv., Ms. Anas Rizvi, Adv., Mr. Syed Imtiyaz Ali, Adv., Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv., Mr. Padmesh Mishra, Adv., Mr. D. L. Chidananda, Adv., Ms. Binu Tamta, Adv., Mr. Nikhil Rohatgi, Adv., Mr. Arkaj Kumar, Adv., Mr. Amlendu Jha Kumar, Adv., Mr. Sandeep Lala, Adv., Mr. Raj Bahadur, Adv., Mr. Pratap Venugopal, Adv., Ms. Surekha Raman, Adv., Mr. Akhil Abraham Ray, Adv., Mr. Vijay Valsan, Adv., For M/s K. J. John & Co., Mr. Ajay Majithia, Adv., Mr. Satyajit A. Desai, Adv., Ms. Anagha....
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.... Agrawala, AOR, Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR, Mr. Vishnu Sharma, AOR, Mr. Vishwajit Singh, AOR, M/S. Ap & J Chambers, AOR, Mr. Umesh Kumar Khaitan, AOR, Mr. Akshat Kumar, AOR, Mr. Praveen Kumar, AOR, Petitioner-in-person, Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, AOR, Mr. Pankaj Gupta, AOR, M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR, Mr. Jatinder Kumar Bhatia, AOR, Mrs. Manik Karanjawala, AOR, Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR, Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR, Mr. Ritesh Agrawal, AOR, Mr. Punit Dutt Tyagi, AOR, Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR, Mr. Syed Shahid Hussain Rizvi, AOR, Ms. C. K. Sucharita, AOR, M/S. Ap & J Chambers, AOR, Mr. Umesh Kumar Khaitan, AOR, Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR, Mr. Siddhartha Chowdhury, AOR, Mrs. V. D. Khanna, AOR, Mr. Bimal Roy Jad, AOR, Mr. V. K. Verma, AOR, Mr. Vikas Mehta, AOR, Mr. Rohit K. Singh, AOR, Mr. Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, AOR, Mr. Vishwajit Singh, AOR, Mr. Ambhoj Kumar Sinha, AOR, Mr. Ravi Prakash Mehrotra, AOR, Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR, Mr. Praveen Kumar, AOR, Mr. T. Mahipal, AOR, Mr. K. R. Sasiprabhu, AOR, Mr. Vishnu Sharma, AOR, Mr. Akshat Kumar, AOR, Mr. P. I. Jose, AOR, Mr. P. N. Gupta, AOR. JUDGMENT M. R. Shah, J. 1. Having noted that there is a clear conflict between the two decisions of this Court, one i....
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.... by the Central Government? 3. At the outset it is required to be noted that in Tika Ramji case (supra), a Bench of five Judges of this Court held as under: (i) That, section 16 of the U.P. Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1953 [hereinafter referred to as "1953 U.P. Act"] does not include the power to fix a price; (ii) That, the price of cane fixed by the U.P. Government only mean the price fixed by the appropriate Government which would be the Central Government, under Clause 3 of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1955 [hereinafter referred to as "1955 Order"]; (iii) That, even the provisions in behalf of the agreement contained in Clauses 3 and 4 of the U.P. Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Order, 1954 [hereinafter referred to as "1954 U.P. Order"] provided that the price was to be the minimum price to be notified by the Government subject to such deduction, if any, as may be notified by the Government from time to time, meaning thereby the Central Government, the State Government not having made any provision in that behalf at any time whatsoever; (iv) That, there is no power to fix a price for sugarcane under th....
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....the 1966 Order? (3) Whether there is any conflict between the Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in the case of Tika Ramji (Supra) and in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federations (Supra)? 6.1 So far as the question No. 1 is concerned, it is submitted that the power to regulate the distribution, sale or purchase of cane under Section 16 of the 1953 U.P. Act does not include the power to fix the price. It is submitted that this aspect has been comprehensively dealt with in the case of Tika Ramji (Supra) which analyzed the legislative history of laws relating to sugar and sugarcane both Central and State and came to the specific conclusion that the power reserved to the State Government to fix the minimum price of sugarcane which existed in U.P. Act 1 of 1938 was deleted from the 1953 U.P. Act since that power was being exercised by the Centre under Clause 3 of Sugar and Gur Control Order, 1950. Reliance is placed upon paragraph 34 of decision in the case of Tika Ramji (Supra). 6.1.1 It is submitted that in the aforesaid decision it has specifically been held that the 1953 U.P. Act or the Rules and the Orders made thereunder made no provision for fixation o....
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....nment which is higher than that fixed by the Central Government cannot lead to any kind of repugnancy. It is argued that this conclusion and its use for determining repugnancy is incorrect and contrary to the earlier Constitution Bench judgment including in the case of Tika Ramji (Supra). It is argued that therefore this issue also needs to be referred to a larger Bench to resolve the conflict. Reliance is placed on some of the observations in the case of Tika Ramji (Supra); in the case of State of Orissa vs. M.A. Tulloch & Co. [1964 (4) SCR 461] and in the case of M. Karunanidhi vs. Union of India [(1979)3 SCC 431]. 6.2.1 It is argued that therefore there cannot be two minimum prices, one fixed by the Central Government as minimum price and other fixed by the State Government as SAP, which is also a minimum price. It is submitted that once the Centre has fixed a minimum price, any other price whether minimum price or SAP would be repugnant to the Centre's decision and the Centre's power and such power of the State Government would therefore have to yield to the Central legislation under Article 254 of the Constitution, both legislations being under the Concurrent List. ....
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....r in light of the proviso to Article 254(2) of the Constitution of India, neither was the issue raised nor was there any argument or discussion on the effect or implications of section 16 of the 1953 U.P. Act on the fixation of the "minimum price" under the 1955 Order in the context of the discussion of repugnancy of 1953 U.P. Act. (5) That, there has been a sea change in the law relating to repugnancy between Central law and State law in the context of laws made under the Concurrent List, List III in the VII Schedule to the Constitution of India, where both, the Union and the States have power to make law. (6) That, being fully aware of the judgment of this Court in the case of Tika Ramji (Supra), the Central Government retreated from the field of fixing "the price" of sugarcane and only retain the power to fix "the minimum price" while permitting an agreement for fixing higher price for sugarcane. It is submitted that therefore, the Central Government left it open for the State to fix the price above the minimum price for purposes of the agreement to be reached between the sugarcane growers and sugarcane cooperative society, on the one hand, and the sugarcane fa....
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....curement by sugar factories. (4) That, therefore, it is clear that as long as the State Advised Price fixed by the State Government of Uttar Pradesh by exercising powers under Section 16 of the 1953 U.P. Act remains over and above the minimum price fixed by the Central legislature under the 1966 Order, there is no repugnancy to the extent that both laws can be obeyed without infringing the other. 7.2 It is further argued that in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federations (Supra), this Court has rightly observed and held that so long both, the Union law and the State law can be obeyed, the State law does not become repugnant to the Union law when both the laws can operate in the same field without conflict. In support, heavy reliance has been placed upon the decision of this Court in the case of Dr. Preeti Srivastava vs. State of M.P. [(1999) 7 SCC 120]. 7.3 It is further argued that in the case of M. Karunanidhi (Supra), while examining the issue of repugnancy with respect to State enactment of Tamil Nadu Public Men (Criminal Misconduct) Act, 1973 in light of the Central enactments of Indian Penal Code, 1860, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Criminal La....
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....ir applicability to the State only. Such a state of affairs will exist only until Parliament may at any time make a law adding to, or amending, varying or repealing the law made by the State Legislature under the proviso to Article 254. 7.4 It is submitted that therefore applying the law laid down by this Court in the case of M. Karunanidhi (Supra) to the facts of the case on hand, it is clear that in the present case, as the Essential Commodities Act and the 1966 Order, on the one hand, and 1953 U.P. Act and the 1954 U.P. Order, have both been enacted under the Concurrent List, and there is no direct conflict between the fixation of the minimum price by the Central Government under Clause 3 of the 1955 Order and the fixation of a higher SAP by the State of U.P., there is no real and irreconcilable conflict between the provisions of the two Acts to the extent that both can be obeyed without violating the order. Therefore, it is submitted that the decision of this Court in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federations (Supra) must be upheld as there is no conflict with the decision in the case of Tika Ramji (Supra). 8. While considering whether there is any apparent confli....
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....]. This Act provided for (i) licensing of sugar factories, (ii) regulation of the supply of sugarcane intended for use in such factories, (iii) the minimum price for sugarcane, (iv) the establishment of Sugar Control Board and Advisory Committee, and (v) a tax on the sale of sugarcane intended for use in factories. Though this Act was to remain in force initially until 30th June, 1947, its life was extended from time to time and finally up to 30th June 1952. Parallel developments during this period were the outbreak of the Second World War and the legislative measures taken to meet the situation by the then Government of India for controlling the production, regulation of distribution and supply of essential commodities. The Dominion Legislature acquired the power to make laws for the Provinces with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the Provincial Legislative List. Under the Defence of India Act, sugar was made a controlled commodity in the year 1942 and its production and distribution as well as the fixation of sugar prices were regulated by the Sugar Controller. The proclamation of emergency was revoked by the Governor General on 1st April 1946. Simultaneously, the laws....
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....1937 came to be enacted in the State of Bihar. As a result of the recommendations of the Khaitan Committee, the report of the Indian Tariff Board in the year 1938 and the U.P. Sugar Industry Enquiry Committee, 1951 [Swaminathan Committee], it was desired that the U.P. Act I of 1938 should be amended in order to make regulation of the supply of sugarcane possible. g. The Industries (Development and Regulation Act, 1951 [Act 65 of 1951] was brought into effect from 8th May 1952. In view of this Act coming into force, certain provisions of the U.P. Act I of 1938 became inoperative. The U.P. Legislature passed on 29th June, 1952, the U.P. Sugar Factories Control (Amendment) Act, 1952, deleting those provisions and putting the amended Act permanently on the Statute Book. The U.P. Act I of 1938, thus amended, continued in force till it was repealed by the U.P. Sugarcane Act, 1953. The object of the enactment of the 1953 Act is stated thus: "With the promulgation of the Industries (Development and Regulation Act, 1951 with effect from 8th May 1952, the regulation of the sugar industry has become exclusively a Central subject. The State Governments are now only concerned ....
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.... in that area. It also empowers fixation of different prices for different areas or different qualities of sugarcane or on the basis of recovery of sugar from sugarcane having regard to various factors enumerated therein. Clause 3(2) provides that no person shall sell or agree to sell sugarcane to a producer of sugar or factory and no producer or factory shall purchase or agree to purchase sugarcane at a price lower than that notified under this clause. Clause (4) empowers the Central Government to prohibit or restrict or otherwise regulate the export of sugarcane from any area for supply to different factories and also to direct that no gur or sugar shall be manufactured from sugarcane except under and in accordance with the conditions specified in a licence issued in this behalf. Clause (5) requires every producer or factory to comply with the directions made under the order. By clause (7) of this order, the Sugar and Gur Control Order, 1950 was repealed. k. On 16th July, 1966, the Central Government notified the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966. Clause 2(g) defines "price" to mean the price or the minimum price fixed by the Central Government, from time to time, for suga....
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....rest on the amount due at the rate of 15 per cent per annum for the period of such delay beyond 14 days. Where payment of interest on delayed payment is made to a cane-growers' society, the society shall pass on the interest to the cane-growers concerned after deducting administrative charges, if any, permitted by the rules of the said society. [Ins. by G.S.R. 62(E) dated 2.2.1978]. (4) Where sugarcane is purchased through an agent, the producer or the agent shall pay or tender payment of such price within the period and in the manner aforesaid and if neither of them has so paid or tendered payment, each of them shall be deemed to have contravened the provisions of this clause. (5) At the time of payment at the gate of the factory or at the cane collection centre, receipts, if any, given by the purchaser, shall be surrendered by the cane- grower or co-operative society. (6) Where payment has been made by transfer or deposit of the amount to the bank account of the seller or the co-operative society as the case may be, the receipt given by the purchaser, if any, to the grower or the co- operative society if not returned to the purchaser, shall become invalid. (....
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....to pay, in addition to the minimum sugarcane price fixed under Clause 3, an additional price, if found due in accordance with the formula enumerated in Second Schedule to the Order. Under sub-clause (2) of Clause 5-A, an appropriate authority may be authorised to determine the additional price payable under sub- clause (1) who shall intimate the same in writing to the producer of sugar and the sugarcane-grower. Under sub-clause (4), the manner of payment of the additional price may be prescribed as directed by the Central Government or the State Government, from time to time. Under sub-clause (5), no additional price determined under sub- clause (2) or sub-clause (3) is required to be paid by a producer of sugar who pays a price higher than the minimum price fixed under Clause 3 to the sugarcane-grower, provided that, "the price so paid is not less than the total price comprising the minimum sugarcane price fixed under Clause 3 and the additional price determined under sub-clause (2) or sub-clause (3)." Under sub-clause (6), it is provided that any extra price paid by the producer of sugar to the sugarcane- grower over and above the minimum sugar....
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.... (a) the distribution, sale or purchase of any case in any reserved or assigned area; and (b) purchase of cane in any area other than a reserved or assigned area. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers such order may provide for- (a) the quantity of cane to be supplied by each Cane-grower or Cane-growers' Co-operative Society in such area to the factory for which the area has so been reserved or assigned; (b) the manner in which cane grown in the reserved area or the assigned area, shall be purchased by the factory for which the area has been so reserved or assigned and the circumstance in which the cane grown by a cane-grower shall not be purchased except through a Cane-growers' Co-operative Society; (c) the form and the terms and conditions of the agreement to be executed by the occupier or manager of the factory for which an area is reserved or assigned for the purchase of cane offered for sale; (d) the circumstances under which permission may be granted- (i) for the purchase of cane grown in reserved or assigned area by a [Gur, Rab or Khandsari Manufacturing Unit or any person or....
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.... the Central Government to fix the "price or minimum price" and also considered that the State Government has not exercised the power by fixing the price and therefore, the question of conflict does not arise. However, in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federations (Supra), this Court was considering the subsequent change in law more particularly the 1966 Order and Clause 3 of the 1966 Order and other relevant Clauses of 1966 Order. 10. The relevant observations and findings recorded by this Court in the case of Tika Ramji (Supra) and in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federations (Supra) are as under: 10.1 RELEVANT EXTRACTS AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE CASE OF TIKA RAMJI " ...... It is clear, therefore, that all the Acts and the notifications issued thereunder by the Centre in regard to sugar and sugarcane were enacted in exercise of the concurrent jurisdiction. The exercise of such concurrent jurisdiction would not deprive the Provincial Legislatures of similar powers which they had under the Provincial Legislative List and there would, therefore, be no question of legislative incompetence qua the Provincial Legislatures in regard to similar pieces of legislation ....
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............... A more effective answer is furnished by comparison of the terms of the U.P. Act I of 1938 with those of the impugned Act. Whereas the U.P. Act I of 1938 covered both sugarcane and sugar within its compass, the impugned Act was confined only to sugarcane, thus relegating sugar to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Centre thereby eliminating all argument with regard to the encroachment by the U.P. State Legislature on the field occupied by the Centre. The U.P. Act I of 1938 provided for the establishment of a Sugar Control Board, the Sugar Commissioner, the Sugar Commission and the Cane Commissioner. The impugned Act provided for the establishment of a Sugarcane Board. The Sugar Commissioner was named as such but his functions under rules 106 and 107 were confined to getting information which would lead to the regulation of the supply and purchase of sugarcane required for use in sugar factories and had nothing to do with the production or the disposal of sugar produced in the factories. The Sugar Commission was not provided for but the Cane Commissioner was the authority invested with all the powers in regard to the supply and purchase of sugarcane. The Inspectors appoint....
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....t were an arrear of land revenue. This comparison goes to show that the impugned Act merely confined itself to the regulation of the supply and purchase of sugarcane required for use in sugar factories and did not concern itself at all with the controlling or licensing of the sugar factories, with the production or manufacture of sugar or with the trade and commerce in, and the production, supply and distribution of, sugar. If that was so, there was no question whatever of its trenching upon the jurisdiction of the Centre in regard to sugar industry which was a controlled industry within Entry 52 of List I and the U.P. Legislature had jurisdiction to enact the law with regard to sugarcane and had legislative competence to enact the impugned Act." " .... It was next contended that the provisions of the impugned Act were repugnant to the provisions of Act LXV of 1951 and Act X of 1955 which were enacted by Parliament and, therefore, the law made by Parliament should prevail and the impugned Act should, to the extent of the repugnancy, be void. Before dealing with this contention it is necessary to clear the ground by defining the exact connotation of the term "repug....
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....s such an intention must necessarily depend on the language of the particular law". " ..... In the instant case, there is no question of any inconsistency in the actual terms of the Acts enacted by Parliament and the impugned Act. The only questions that arise are whether Parliament and the State Legislature sought to exercise their powers over the same subject- matter or whether the laws enacted by Parliament were intended to be a complete exhaustive code or, in other words, expressly or impliedly evinced an intention to cover the whole field." " ..... Act X of 1955 included within the definition of essential commodity food stuffs which we have seen above would include sugar as well as sugarcane. This Act was enacted by Parliament in exercise of the concurrent legislative power under Entry 33 of List III as amended by the Constitution Third Amendment Act, 1954. Foodcrops were there defined as including crops of sugarcane and section 3(1) gave the Central Government powers to control the production, supply and distribution of essential commodities and trade and commerce therein for maintaining or increasing the supplies thereof or for securing their equitable dist....
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....nt here only meant the price fixed by the appropriate Government which would be the Central Government, under clause 3 of the Sugarcane Control Order, 1955, because in fact the U. P. State Government never fixed the price of sugarcane to be purchased by the factories. Even the provisions in behalf of the agreements contained in clauses 3 and 4 of the U. P. Sugarcane Regulation of Supply and Purchase Order, 1954, provided that the price was to be the minimum price to be notified by the Government subject to such deductions, if any, as may be notified by the Government from time to time meaning thereby the Central Government, the State Government not having made any provision in that behalf at any time whatever. The provisions thus made by the Sugarcane Control Order, 1955, did not find their place either in the impugned Act or the Rules made thereunder or the U.P. Sugarcane Regulation of Supply and Purchase Order, 1954, and the provision contained in section 17 of the impugned Act in regard to the payment of sugarcane price and recovery thereof as if it was an arrear of land revenue did not find its place in the Sugarcane Control Order, 1955. These provisions, therefore, were mutual....
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....ent in exercise of the power conferred by Section 16 of the 1953 Act, which provides that the State Government may for maintaining supplies by Order regulate the distribution, sale or purchase of cane in any reserved or assigned area, etc. The Order having been made by the State Government in exercise of a power conferred by an Act made by U.P. legislature, the only logical inference which can be drawn is that the word "Government" refers to State Government. There is no indication in the proforma of the agreement or in the 1954 Order that the word "Government" would refer to Central Government. If the State Government is prescribing a proforma of an agreement which is to be executed by a cane-grower or a cane-growers' cooperative society and the occupier of the factory regarding sale and purchase of sugarcane wherein the word "Government" is used, it can only mean the State Government and not the Central Government unless there is clear indication to the contrary. 28. The observations made in Tika Ramji, strong reliance on which is placed by learned counsel for the respondents, have to be understood in the context in which they were made. It may be noted that the writ....
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.... Regulation of Supply and Purchase Order, 1954, provided that the price was to be the minimum price to be notified by the Government subject to such deductions, if any, as may be notified by the Government from time to time meaning thereby the Central Government, the State Government not having made any provision in that behalf at any time whatever. The provisions thus made by the Sugarcane Control Order, 1955, did not find their place either in the impugned Act or the Rules made thereunder or the U.P. Sugarcane Regulation of Supply and Purchase Order, 1954; and the provision contained in Section 17 of the impugned Act in regard to the payment of sugarcane price and recovery thereof as if it was an arrear of land revenue did not find its place in the Sugarcane Control Order, 1955." "28.1 Having regard to the factual situation then existing that U.P. Government had not fixed the price of the sugarcane, it was held that the price of the cane fixed by the Government could only mean "Central Government". It has not been laid down as a principle of law that the words "minimum price notified by Government" must necessarily mean the minimum price fixed by the Central Gov....
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....ng repugnancy between a law made by Parliament and law made by State legislature were considered by a Constitution Bench. In pursuance of an FIR lodged against Shri M. Karunanidhi the CBI after investigation had submitted chargesheet against him under Section 161, 468 and 471 IPC and Section 5(2) read with Section 5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Madras Legislature had passed an Act known as Tamil Nadu Public Men (Criminal Misconduct) Act, 1973 which had received the assent of the President. It was contended that by virtue of Article 254(2) of the Constitution, the provisions of Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act stood repealed. After review of all the earlier authorities Court laid down the following tests : (SCC pp.448-49, para 35) "35. 1. That in order to decide the question of repugnancy it must be shown that the two enactments contain inconsistent and irreconcilable provisions, so that they cannot stand together or operate in the same field. 2. That there can be no repeal by implication unless the inconsistency appears on the face of the two statutes. 3. That where the two statutes occupy a ....
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....hat power to fix sugarcane price had been given to the State Government under the Sugarcane Act, 1934 and hence it would be redundancy to say that the same power to fix cane price also flows from Section 16 of the 1953 Act. The High Court has also held that when the 1953 Act was enacted there was already a law, viz., the Sugarcane Act, 1934, which enabled the State Government to fix the minimum cane price and hence, it could not have been the intention of the U.P. Legislature while enacting 1953 Act that Section 16 thereof would include the power to fix the minimum cane price as such a power was already there with the State Government under Section 3(2) of the Sugarcane Act, 1934. The High Court, therefore, concluded that Section 16 of the 1953 Act only gave power to the State Government to regulate the supply and purchase of sugarcane in the narrower sense and not in the wider sense so as to include the power to fix the minimum price. This reasoning of the High Court proceeds on the footing that the Sugarcane Act, 1934 was in existence and was in operation when the 1953 Act was enacted by U.P. Legislature. It appears that the correct legal position was not brought to the notice of....
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....n on the capital employed in the business of manufacturing sugar are also relevant factors under Clauses (b) and (d) of Section 3(3-) EC Act and, therefore, the fixation of higher price for sugarcane by the State Government by itself cannot have any major or substantial impact on the fixation of the price of the levy sugar by the Central Government." 12. The question involved in Ch. Tika Ramji & Ors., etc. v. The State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. AIR 1956 SC 676 was concerning the validity of the Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1953 (for short, "Act of 1953") and notifications dated 27.9.1954 and 9.11.1955 issued by the Government of Uttar Pradesh thereunder. The notification dated 27.9.1954 was issued in exercise of the powers/ conferred under sub-section 1(a) read with sub-section 2(b) of Section 16 of the Act of 1953 which provided that not less than 3/4 of the cane growers of the area of operation of a Cane Growers Cooperative Society to be members of the society. The occupier of the factory for which the area is assigned shall not purchase or enter into an agreement to purchase cane grown by a cane grower except through such Cane Growers Co-oper....
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....the decision was rendered. While examining the repugnancy, passing reference has been made to the provisions contained in the Act of 1954. 17. During the pendency of petitions, the Sugar Control Order, 1955, was issued on 27.8.1955, which was referred to in the judgment. It was not even submission raised or considered that the power of regulation under Section 16 of the Act would include the power to fix the advised price of sugarcane. The concept of fixation of minimum price by Central Government vis a vis to State Advised Price to be fixed by State Government, never fell for consideration of this Court in the said decision. The ratio of decision has to be considered in the light of questions considered and answered. In Tika Ramji (supra), it was held that there was no repugnancy in the Act of 1953 with Act of 1955 or with the Act of 1951, and notifications which were impugned did not infringe the fundamental rights. 18. Thus, from the above, it is clear that the factual matrix and the relevant provisions which fell for consideration before this Court in the case of Tika Ramji (supra) and which fell for consideration by this Court in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federa....
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....0. Even otherwise and on merits and for the reasons stated hereinbelow, we are in complete agreement with the view taken by this Court in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federations, which lays down that the inconsistency or repugnancy will arise if the State Government fixed a price which is lower than that fixed by the Central Government. But, if the price fixed by the State Government is higher than that fixed by the Central Government, there will be no occasion for any inconsistency or repugnancy as it is possible for both the orders to operate simultaneously and to comply with both of them. A higher price fixed by the State Government would automatically comply with the provisions of Sub-clause (2) of Clause 3 of 1966 Order. Therefore, any price fixed by the State Government which is higher than that fixed by the Central Government cannot lead to any kind of repugnancy. 20.1 Question of repugnancy under Article 254 of the Constitution: Concerning laws in List III of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, where both the Union and the States have the power to enact a law, the question of repugnancy arises only in a case where there is an actual irreconcilabl....
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....islations are alike or different. To put it simply, a provision in one legislation in order to give effect to its dominant purpose may incidentally be on the same subject as covered by the provision of the other legislation, but such partial or incidental coverage of the same area in a different context and to achieve a different purpose does not attract the doctrine of repugnancy. In a nutshell, in order to attract the doctrine of repugnancy, both the legislations must be substantially on the same subject." 20.2 In M. Karunanidhi v. Union of India & Anr., (1979) 3 SCC 431, the Court opined that where there is a direct collision between the law made by the State and the law made by the Parliament, State law would be void to the extent of repugnancy. It is only when the provisions are irreconcilable. The Court held: "8. It would be seen that so far as clause (1) of Article 254 is concerned it clearly lays down that where there is a direct collision between a provision of a law made by the State and that made by Parliament with respect to one of the matters enumerated in the Concurrent List, then, subject to the provisions of clause (2), the State law would be void to the....
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....the Concurrent List is inconsistent with and repugnant to a previous law made by Parliament, then such a law can be protected by obtaining the assent of the President under Article 254(2) of the Constitution. The result of obtaining the assent of the President would be that so far as the State Act is concerned, it will prevail in the State and overrule the provisions of the Central Act in their applicability to the State only. Such a state of affairs will exist only until Parliament may at any time make a law adding to, or amending, varying or repealing the law made by the State Legislature under the proviso to Article 254. So far as the present State Act is concerned, we are called upon to consider the various shades of the constitutional validity of the same under Article 254(2) of the Constitution. X X X 24. It is well settled that the presumption is always in favour of the constitutionality of a statute and the onus lies on the person assailing the Act to prove that it is unconstitutional. Prima facie, there does not appear to us to be any inconsistency between the State Act and the Central Acts. Before any repugnancy can arise, the following conditio....
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....Federations (supra), this Court had an occasion to consider the ambit, scope and import of Section 16 of the Act. The question involved was as to whether the State Government had the power to fix SAP for sugarcane or it was only the Central Government, which could fix the minimum price or so to say, whether the fixation of SAP was covered by the Central Legislation or was it open to the State to fix the price different than the price fixed by the Central Government and whether there was repugnancy in view of Article 254 of the Constitution. 20.4.2 From the close scrutiny of the judgment passed by this Court in the case of U.P. Cooperative Cane Unions Federations (supra), it did appear that this Court took into consideration the effect, scope and impact of Section 16 under the Act. This Court considered in detail Section 16 of the Act - the provision to regulate purchase and supply of sugarcane in the reserved and assigned area, under which the State Government is vested with the power to regulate the distribution, sale or purchase of sugarcane in any reserved or assigned area and purchase of cane in any area other than a reserved or assigned area by issuing an order to that effe....
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....authority is guided by all relevant factors while determining such price - SAP. 20.5.1 In the case of U.P. Cooperative Cane Unions Federations (supra), the Constitution Bench has upheld the power and authority of the State Government to fix the SAP after precisely observing that the Act of 1953 has been enacted to regulate the SAP and purchase of sugarcane required by the sugar factories and that the word 'regulate' would also include the right to fix the price. It has also declared that the SAP fixed by the State Government has to be higher than the minimum price fixed by the Central Government. In a given case, the SAP price may be an agreed price. 20.6 At this stage, is required to be noted that in the case of U.P. Cooperative Cane Unions Federations (supra), this Court specifically negatived the submission on behalf of the sugar factories that they cannot be compelled to enter into agreements with the cane growers and cane-growers' cooperative society in forms B and C, wherein the State-advised price is mentioned. This Court also negatived the submission on behalf of the sugar factories that as the consent cannot be said to be a voluntary consent and as the co....
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....e Central Government may fix "the minimum price" of the sugarcane to be paid by the producer of sugar. As rightly submitted by the learned Counsel on behalf of the State, there is a difference between "the price" and "the minimum price". The aforesaid shall be apparent from the relevant Clauses of the 1966 Order. 20.7.1 The provision of State advised price has been made to protect the interests of the sugarcane growers who are not in a position to negotiate. In Sukhnandan Saran Dinesh Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., (1982) 2 SCC 150, this Court opined: "22. The statutory prescription of quantum of rebate for binding material has been prescribed for the benefit of sugarcane growers. Producers of sugar and khandsari sugar constitute a powerful trade lobby, the fact of which one can take judicial notice. Sugar being an essential commodity occasionally kept in short supply and being a commodity needed for consumption by almost the entire population, the powerful industry magnates in this field are in a position to dominate both the growers of sugarcane as also the consumers of the essential commodity. Number of regulations have been enacted almost since the dawn of i....
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.... State action for the protection of the weaker sections is not only justified but absolutely necessary unless the restriction imposed is excessive." 20.7.2 Clause 3(1) empowers the Central Government to fix the minimum price of sugarcane to be paid by the producers of sugar or their agents for the sugarcane purchased by them. Clause 3(2) provides that no person shall sell or agree to sell sugarcane to a producer of sugar or his agent, and no such producer or agent shall purchase or agree to purchase sugarcane, at a price lower than that fixed under sub-clause (1). As per Clause 3(3), where a producer of sugar purchases any sugarcane from a grower of sugarcane or from a Sugarcane- grower's Co-operative Society, the producer shall, unless there is an agreement in writing to the contrary between the parties, pay within fourteen days from the date of delivery of the sugarcane to the seller or tender to him the price of the cane sold at the rate agreed to between the producer and the sugarcane- grower or Sugarcane- growers' Co-operative Society or that fixed under sub-clause (1), as the case may be. Clause (3-A) provides that a producer of sugar or his agent shall pay, for th....
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....ised price) below "the minimum price". As per the agreement entered into the "advised price" necessarily had to be higher than the "minimum price". Thus, there is a difference between "the price" and the "the minimum price". As per Clause 3 of 1966 Order, it empowers the Central Government to fix the "minimum price" and the State Government is authorized to fix the Advised Price which as observed hereinabove is always higher than the "minimum price" fixed by the Central Government. Therefore, as rightly observed by this Court in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federations, there is no conflict in exercise of powers by the Central Government in fixing the "minimum price" and in fixing the "advised price" by the State Government which is higher than the "minimum price" fixed by the Central Government. Therefore, as rightly observed by this Court in the case of U.P. Coop. Cane Unions Federations, there is no inconsistency or repugnancy in fixing the "advised price" or "remunerative price" by the State Government and the "minimum price" fixed by the Central Government. As rightly held, if the price fixed by the State Government is higher than that fixed by the Central Government, th....