TMI Blog1975 (9) TMI 173X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... right to directed them to disgorge. When the price of levy sugar was pegged down by the State, these factory owners rushed to the Court impeaching the validity of the control and secured a stay of operation of the order. Under cover of the Court s stay order which was granted, on bank guarantee for the excess price being furnished to the court, the appellants sold sugar at free market rates, a euphemism for blackmarket racket-unfortunately, with judicial sanction. Crores of rupees were admittedly funnelled into the millers tills. But, eventually, the High Court upheld the control of price and the unhappy obligation to restore the unjust enrichment arose. The High Court, whose process kept the control price in cold storage, had to do just ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pockets of a considerable number of consumers had better be allowed to be retained by the millers. Another diffident hint was made that these several crores of rupees be used for stablising the sugar cane growers economic position. The easy-to-see-through design behind these developmental ideas was to have use of this large windfall till some distant project was evolved. Indubitably, the appellants are in unrighteous enjoyment of colossal sums which belong to small consumers. Not amount more can the millers keep what the Court has ordered the Registrar to collect by enforcing the bank guarantees. Indeed, they have had dubious business use of these vast sums for a few years-nearly a year, soon after the High Court s final judgment. Onc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... conventional procedures of each small claimant being left to litigate for his little sum from the miller or wholesaler is to write off the remedy and allow the ill-gotten wealth to be in the coffers of the wrong-doer (who got the charter to charge high, from a Court order). Nor is the seemingly sweet suggestion, that a representative action under order 1. r. 8 C.P.C., be instituted on be half of the class of consumers, feasible. Who is to start? Against whom ? How is he to meet the huge litigative costs and how long (O, Lord, how long!) is he to wait with long-drawn-out trial procedures appeal, second appeal, special appeal and Supreme Court appeal ? For, on the other side is the miller with the millions to be coughed up The handling o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sation taking up public interest litigation, we could have hoped for relief otherwise than by this Court s order. We lag in this regard although people are poor and claims are individually trivial. Legal aid lo the poor has a processual dimension As things stand, if each victim were remitted to an individual suit the remedy could be illusory, for the individual loss may be too small, a suit too prohibitive in time and money and the wrong would go without redress. If there is to be relief, we must construct it here by simple legal engineering. The Solicitor General appearing for the State of U.P. and the Union of India, informed us that legislation was about to be enacted to take care of these situations. If it did come, it were welcome. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... will be produced before the High Court and orders obtained. The process should not be too expensive or too formalised. D. Wide publicity will be given about the project and method of returning small claims and the money sent by post or otherwise. The claims also would be received by post or otherwise and verified without delay. E. The interest accruing from the bank deposits will be used for the incidentals to work out the distribution. F. It will be open to the wholesaler to prove by vouchers the retailers and the latter in turn may prove who the ultimate , buyers are. The High Court may devise modifications of this scheme or direct the State Government to act on any scheme subject to the moneys reaching the real small buyers from ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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