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TMI Blog1945 (2) TMI 28X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... established under Section 5 of the Madras Commercial Crops Act of 1933; and in exercise of the powers conferred upon it by the Act, it claimed fees on sales of groundnuts to the three plaintiff firms. The plaintiffs paid what was demanded of them and filed these three suits for the return of the sums paid by them. 2. Two questions have been argued in these appeals : one is whether the sales and purchases in question were within the South Arcot district, and the other is whether the defendant committee had power to levy these fees, in view of the feet that the plaintiffs sold the property, they say, outside the district The learned Subordinate Judge decided these and other questions against the plaintiffs, who have appealed to this Court. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pleted only in Cuddalore, after an inspection had been made. There are many passages in the contract which make this very clear. Clause 3, for example, says : Should the whole or any portion of the goods to be delivered under this contract be in any respect not in accordance with the stipulations of Clauses 1 and 2, buyers shall have the option of rejecting such goods or of accepting the same with an allowance to be fixed by them. Clause 5(d) contains a similar clause with regard to the bags. Clause 6 says : Delivery is to be completed at Cuddalore....... Clause 7(a) says that the balance due to the sellers is to be paid on the final completion of the contract, which proves that the contract cannot be deemed to have been completed as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itionally appropriated to the contract the property in the goods thereupon passes to the buyer. It is argued that the goods were unconditionally appropriated to the contract when the sellers placed the goods in the bags according to the specification and committed them to the charge of the railway. The goods were not then, however, unconditionally appropriated to the contract; because they were still subject to the approval of the buyers in their Cuddalore godowns. We are therefore satisfied, on a reading of Ex. P-4 that the purchase and sale was concluded in Cuddalore. 6. Ex. P-10, a contract with the same company, contains expressions which are even clearer. It says that the purchase price is fixed by the prevailing rates in Cuddalore ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oncerned, the market committee is bound, subject to such rules as may be made in this behalf, to levy fees on the commercial crop or crops, bought and sold in the notified area. Section 18 enables the Provincial Government to frame rules, consistent with the Act, for carrying out all or any of the purposes thereof. The only sub-section with which we are concerned is Sub-section (2)(iv) whereby the Provincial Government may fix the maximum annual fees which may be levied by the market committee in respect of the licence granted under Section 4 and on the commercial crop or crops,bought and sold in the notified area and the recovery of such fees. Section 19 makes provision for the framing of by-laws. By-laws have been framed by the committee; ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rea." It is argued that as the Government has not fixed any such maximum fees, the committee is not empowered to levy any fees at all. It seems to us a strange argument that although the statute expressly requires the committee to levy fees on commercial crops bought and sold yet they cannot do so because no maximum fee has been fixed. The committee must levy fees under Section 11 unless there is something in the rules which qualifies or takes away that power. If the Government had fixed the maximum annual fee, then the committee would have to levy fees on crops bought and sold subject to that maximum. In the absence of a maximum, the committee can levy whatever fees they consider to be proper. 9. In its earlier by-laws, the committee ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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