TMI Blog1981 (1) TMI 290X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... referred to as 'the Order') made by the State Government of Kerala in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Kerala Act regulating the procurement and distribution of raw cashewnuts grown in the State of Kerala. The petitioners are persons engaged in the cashewnut processing industry in the State of Kerala. Since the impugned declaration and the Order seriously interfered with the right of the petitioners to purchase sufficient quantities of raw cashewnuts for processing in their factories and imposed several other restrictions on them, they have filed the above petitions. Although the validity of several other Orders was also questioned in the present petitions, the petitioners confined their challenge only to the impugned declaration and the Order in the course of arguments since according to them it was not necessary to urge their contentions as against those orders. 2. The recital in the preamble to the Order states that it was being made in order to ensure the maintenance oil supplies of raw cashewnuts which was considered to be essential for the continued employment of a large number of workmen in the State of Kerala and for their equitable distri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ined in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955) which may be declared by the Government by notified order to be an essential article. 5. From the above definition it is clear that the State Government can declare as an essential article under the Kerala Act only an article which is not an essential commodity as defined in the Central Act. When such a declaration is made in respect of any article, the State Government acquires the power to make an order under Section 3 thereof in respect of such article. The State Government is, however, precluded from declaring any article which is an essential commodity under the Central Act as an essential article and from making an order for the purpose of controlling its production, supply and distribution. This is obvious from the words in the parenthesis in Section 2(a) of the Kerala Act defining the word 'essential article'. That the object of the Kerala Act is only to provide for regulation of production, supply and distribution of an article which is not an essential commodity as defined under the Central Act is also clear from what is stated by the Kerala Government in the letter dated December 5, 1961 addressed by the Law Sec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ions of Entry 33 of List III. Hence the State Legislature is competent to enact the measure. 5. The provisions of the Bill may attract Articles 301 and 304(b) of the Constitution as imposing a reasonable restriction on the freedom of trade and commerce. Accordingly the previous sanction of the President for the introduction of the Bill in the State Legislature has been obtained as required by the proviso to Article 304(b) in the letter of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry referred to as third paper above. 6. One of the grounds urged on behalf of the petitioners in support of these petitions is that raw cashewnut being a foodstuff (which is an essential commodity under the Central Act), the State Government of Kerala could not make a declaration to the effect that it was an essential article under Section 2(a) of the Kerala Act and consequently the impugned Order was outside the scope of the Kerala Act. On behalf of the State Government, it is contended that raw cashewnut is not a foodstuff and even if it is held to be a foodstuff having regard to the nature and object of the Order, it should be treated as being within the competence of the State Government. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on April 1, 1946. Consequently all laws made by the Federal Legislature on the subjects in the Provincial List were to cease to have effect after the expiry of September 30, 1946. During the period of emergency the Federal Legislature has passed a law enabling the Federal Government to issue Orders with respect to trade and commerce within the Provinces and the production, supply and distribution of several commodities which were considered to be essential and those Orders were also to cease to have effect on the expiry of September 30, 1946. Since it was felt that the Federal Legislature should continue to have power to make laws on the subject of production, supply and distribution of certain essential commodities on March 26. 1946 the British Parliament passed the India (Central Government and Legislature) Act, 1946 (9 and 10 Geo. 6, Chapter 39) amending among others. Sub-section (4) of Section 102 of the Government of India Act, 1935 as to the effect of laws passed by virtue of the Proclamation of Emergency. The relevant part of that Act read: 2. (1) Notwithstanding anything in the Government of India Act, 1935, the Indian Legislature shall during the period mentioned in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd Entry 33 of List III only dealt with trade and commerce in, and the production, supply and distribution of the products of industries where the control of such industries by the Union was declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest. having regard to the then existing conditions, Article 369 was enacted as a temporary and transitional measure conferring legislative power on the Parliament during period of five years from the commencement of the Constitution to make laws with respect to the following matters as if they were enumerated in the Concurrent List, namely: (a) trade and commerce within a State in. and the production, supply and distribution of, cotton and woollen textiles, raw cotton (including ginned cotton and unginned cotton or kapas). cotton seed, paper (including newsprint), foodstuffs (including edible oilseeds and oil), cattle fodder (including oil-cakes and other concentrates), coal (including coke and derivatives of coal), iron, steel and mica; (b) offences against laws with respect to any of the matters mentioned in Clause (a), jurisdiction and powers of all courts except the Supreme Court with respect to any of those matt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... There are at least two good reasons to reject this contention advanced on behalf of the State Government-first, the language used in Section 2(a)(v) of the Central Act and secondly the purpose of the Central Act. Section 2(a)(v) of the Central Act reads; 'foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils'. It is a well known rule of interpretation that associated words take their meaning from one another and that is the meaning of the rule of statutory construction, noscitur a socials. When 'foodstuffs' are associated with edible oilseeds which have to be processed before the oil in them can be consumed, it is appropriate to interpret 'foodstuffs' in the wider sense as including all articles of food which may be consumed by human beings after processing. It is in this wider sense that the said term has been understood by Indian Courts as can be seen from some of the decisions to which we shall presently refer. Secondly, having regard to the history of legislation relating to foodstuffs dealt with above and the object of the Central Act which regulates the production, supply and distribution of essential commodities amongst the poverty-stricken Indian people, t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eaten by human beings. 15. It is well known that the food eaten by human beings consists of cereals like wheats rice of other coarse grains, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, sugar, fruits and nuts, animal foodstuffs and sea food like meat, beef, mutton and fish and dairy products like milk, butter, eggs etc. According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary, the word 'food' means fodder' also. One of the meaning of the word 'food' given in that Dictionary is 'material consisting of carbohydrates, proteins and supplementary substances (as minerals, vitamins) that is taken or absorbed into the body of an organism in order to sustain growth, repair, and all vital processes and to furnish energy for all activity of the organism'. In the same Dictionary 'foodstuff' is defined as 'a substance with food value' and 'the raw material of food before or after processing'. One of the usages of the said word is given as 'a bountiful crop of cereal foodstuffs'. Therefore, 'foodstuff' need not necessarily mean only the final food product which is consumed. It also includes raw food articles which may after proces ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the usual processes. The uncleaned tur dal (i.e. tur dal without separating from it wastage and foreign matter) which was being exported on 26-12-1946 in this case was such a foodstuff and comes within the provisions of the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Ordinance 1946, and the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946. 17. In the State of Bombay v. Virkumar Gulabchand Shah 1952CriLJ1406 this Court was called upon to decide whether 'turmeric' was 'foodstuff' in a case arising under the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946. Vivian Bose. J. who delivered the judgment after observing: (at P. 337) So far as food is concerned, it can be used in a wide as well as a narrow sense and, in my opinion, much must depend upon the context and background. Even in a popular sense, when one asks another, Have you had your food , one means the composite preparations which normally go to constitute meal- curry and rice, sweetmeats, pudding, cooked vegetables and so forth. One does not usually think separately of the different preparations which enter into their making of the various condiments and spices and vitamins, any more than one would th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d' (1918) 87 LJKB 893. it was held that tea was not. Now the Act has been passed to control the production and distribution of essential commodities. What can be looked upon more of an essential commodity than both rice and paddy? In West Bengal, the two things most essential for the sustenance of human life are rice and paddy. Mr. Mukherjee admits that rice is an essential commodity and a foodstuff, but he says that paddy is not because nobody can eat paddy. But that is a very narrow view to take. Paddy is only a stage in the production of rice and the one cannot be food without the other being food as well. Nobody eats the husk in paddy; but nobody eats the skin of mango or the shell of an egg and yet they are unquestionably articles of food. In my opinion, paddy is 'foodstuff' within the meaning of that expression as used in the Act and the notification. 19. To the same effect is the decision of the Calcutta High Court in Nathuni Lal Gupta v. The State AIR1964Cal279 in which wheat and wheat products were held to be foodstuffs. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana in Sujan Singh Matu Ram v. The State of Haryana and the High Court of Orissa in Bijoy Kumar Routra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... road is a foodstuff, and whatever is consumed within the country is not a foodstuff. It is, therefore, a foodstuff and must be classified as an essential commodity. Its importance as a foodstuff can also be seen from the statements filed in these cases in which it is stated that in the State of Kerala in the year 1976-77 the total quantity of raw cashewnut procured was in the order of 60,000 tonnes, the number of workers engaged in the cashewnut processing industry was about 1,20,000 and that there were 269 cashew factories. 25. It was next urged that cashew- nut could be treated as an essential article only for the purpose of export and not an essential commodity under the Central Act. This again is not correct. The Central Government can make an Order under the Central Act even when an essential commodity is used for industrial purpose or for purposes of export. Essential commodities do not cease to be essential commodities under the Central Act merely because they are exported after they are processed in India. Foodgrains (Prohibition of Use in Manufacture of Starch) Order, 1971, The Fruit Products Order, 1955, The Gur (Regulation of Use)' Order, 1968, Pulses, Edible ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nder Section 2(a)(v) of the Central Act and hence cannot be declared as an essential article under Section 2(a) of the Kerala Act. It follows that no Order can be made by the Government of Kerala under Section 3 thereof in respect of raw cashewnut. The action of the Kerala Government is beyond the power conferred on it by the Kerala Legislature. 28. In the result, we hold that the declaration made by the Government of Kerala to the effect that raw cashewnut is an essential article under the Kerala Act and the impugned Order made thereunder are liable to be quashed and they are accordingly quashed. 29. All the other contentions including those relating to the alleged infringement of the fundamental rights of the petitioners raised in these petitions are left open. 30. Before concluding, we propose to advert to the last submission made before us on behalf of the State Government. It was submitted that the cashewnut industry in Kerala was a labour-oriented industry and if the declaration and the Order were struck down, a number of workmen would be adversely affected. It was also submitted that the entire economy of the State of Kerala which largely depended on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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