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2013 (9) TMI 1237

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..... petition is as follows:- Petitioner No. 1 is a company having one of its depots at Mahanadi Clearing House, Gopalpur, NH-5, Cuttack. It is engaged in manufacturing and distribution of consumer goods and food articles like Vanaspati, Jam, Jelly and other products. Petitioner No. 1-company never does any retail business and it used to supply goods from its Cuttack depot to the dealers/distributors all-over Odisha. By two invoices dated 16.08.2001 (Annexure-1) the petitioner dispatched 485 cases or 87 quintals 900 grams of Vanaspati Dalda, Mixed Fruit Jam in 24 cases and Tomato Sauce in 25 cases to M/s. Santosh Traders, Vedavyas. The consignee M/s. Santosh Traders at Vedavyas had paid for the aforesaid consignment through Cheque No. 548627, dated 16.08.2001. The aforesaid goods were entrusted to the Transporters and the transportation was effected in Truck No. OSU-3915 on 16.08.2001. At about 5.30 P.M. on 17.08.2001 the Marketing Inspector, Enforcement Squad, Panposh intercepted the aforesaid truck in Vedvyas Chowk in front of Bhagabati Weigh Bridge and seized the aforementioned articles and the truck vide Seizure List dated 17.08.2001 on the ground that .....

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..... de Annexure-9 on the following grounds:- (i) There being no reason to believe about any contravention of any specific provision of the Control Order, the seizure is illegal and initiation of the proceeding under Section 6(A) of the Essential Commodities Act is without authority of law and without jurisdiction; (ii) The goods having been seized in transit, which does not amount to storage, no contravention of the licensing order can be held to have been occasioned, and initiation of the proceeding is, therefore, without any jurisdiction. (iii) The articles having not been delivered to M/s. Santosh Traders though an unlicensed dealer and the articles having been seized during transit, there cannot be said to be any contravention of the Control Order, as the transit continues till delivery according to Section 51 of the Sale Goods Act, 1930; (iv) Learned Collector, Sundargarh (opp. party) has violated the mandatory provision of Section 6(B) of the Essential Commodities Act by not issuing any notice to the petitioner, who is the owner of the goods, and the petitioner having not been provided with opportunity of submitting its .....

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..... aforesaid 2002 Order allowed the dealers to freely buy, stock, sell, transport, distribute, etc. specified foodstuffs, namely, wheat, paddy/rice, coarse grains, sugar, edible oils and edible oilseeds. Pursuant to the aforesaid 2002 order, Government of Odisha in the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department letter No. 7908 dated 19.3.2002 issued the following instructions to all the Collectors:- To All Collectors Sub: The Removal of (Licensing requirements, Stock limits and Movement Restriction) on Specified Foodstuffs Order, 2002. Sir, The Central Govt. has notified the Removal of (Licensing requirements, Stock limits and Movement Restriction) on Specified Foodstuffs Order, 2002 (Copy enclosed) in the Gazette of India on 15.02.2002 allowing the dealers to freely buy, stock, sell, transport, distribute, etc specified foodstuffs, namely, wheat paddy/rice, coarse grains, sugar, edible oils and edible oilseeds, consequently relevant clauses relating to licensing, movement under different state Control Orders issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1956 will become infructuous from the date of coming in .....

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..... rd in place of old must be given retrospective operation. Similarly in the case of Maya Prakash (supra), Hon'ble Allahabad High Court was in seisin over the matter on the issue of adulteration of ghee, i.e., presence of Synthetic Vitamin 'A' to a particular extent in Vanaspati Ghee. The Allahabad High Court relying on the aforesaid decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Rattan Lal's case and the Delhi High Court in Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Mal Ram alias Bhaya Ram, (1974 FAC-19), took the same view and held that the notification which substituted new standard in place of old modifying extent of presence of Synthetic Vitamin 'A' in Vanaspati Ghee must be given retrospective operation. 9. This Court in the case of Akola Oil Industries Ltd. (supra) was in seisin over the matter on the issue of melting point of Vanaspati by capillary slip method. Till 27.10.1984 one standard was there, but subsequently by amendment the standard was substituted. This Court, relying on a Division Bench decision of Allahabad High Court in Shyam Lal v. State, AIR 1968 All 392, quoting crewford's construction of statute held that the substituted standar .....

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..... vant provision of Section 45(1) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 reads as follows:- Unpaid seller defined-(1) The seller of goods is deemed to be an unpaid seller within the meaning of this Act,- (a) when the whole of the price has not been paid or tendered; (b) when a bill of exchange or other negotiable instrument has been received as conditional payment, and the condition on which it was received has not been fulfilled by reason of the dishonour of the instrument or otherwise. 14. The aforesaid provision unerringly makes it clear that the seller, i.e., petitioner No. 1-company here was an unpaid seller at the relevant time of seizure as the Cheque given by the consignee M/s. Santosh Traders, Vedavyas was dishonoured before the Vanaspati Dalda and other consignments were delivered. 15. Section 51 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 reads as follows:- Duration of transit.-(1) Goods are deemed to be in course of transit from the time when they are delivered to a carrier or other bailee for the purpose of transmission to the buyer until the buyer or his agent in that behalf takes delivery of them f .....

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