VERY IMPORTANT POINT
Carrying goods in a vehicle cannot per se be storing for the purpose of Clause 3 of the Orissa Rice and Paddy Control Order, 1965.

JUDGMENT

A.M. Ahmadi, CJI - Leave granted.

2. Section 3(1) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (hereinafter called the Act ) provides that if the Central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient so to do for maintaining or increasing supplies of any essential commodity or for securing their equitable distribution and availability at fair prices, it may, by order, provide for regulating or prohibiting the production, supply and distribution thereof the trade and commerce therein. Section 3(2)(d) further clarifies that the order may provide, inter alia, for regulating by licences, permits or otherwise, the storage, transport, distribution, disposal, acquisition use or consumption of, any essential commodity. We may reproduce the exact words of the relevant part of Section 3 which reads as under :

"3. Power to control production, supply, distribution, etc., of essential commodities.-

(1) xxx xxx xxx

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by sub-section (1), an order made thereunder may provide -

(a) xxx xxx xxx

(b) xxx  xxx xxx

(c) xxx xxx xxx

(d) for regulating by licences, permits or otherwise the storage, transport, distribution, disposal, acquisition, use or consumption of, any essential commodity;

(e) xxx xxx xxx

(f) xxx xxx xxx

Section 7 of the Act makes contravention of any a order made under Section 3 punishable.

3. On 29th December, 1965, the Orissa Rice and Paddy Control Order, 1965 (hereinafter referred to as the Order ) was issued in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Act. Clause 3 of the Order which is relevant is reproduced below :

"3. Licensing of persons-(1) No person shall act as a dealer except under and in accordance with a licence issued in that behalf by the licensing authority :

Provided that the Government may, by a special or general order, exempt, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order, any class of persons from the operation of this sub-clause.

(2) For the purpose of this clause, any person who stores rice or paddy or rice and paddy taken together in quantity exceeding ten quintals inside the State of Orissa excluding the border area and exceeding two quintals inside the border area shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to act as a dealer."

The term dealer is defined in clause 2(b) as under :

"2(b). Dealer means any person who purchases, sells or stores in wholesale quantity rice or paddy or rice and paddy taken together :

Provided that, if such a person happens to be a cultivator or landlord, he shall not be deemed to be a dealer in respect of rice or paddy being the produce of the land cultivated or owned by him."

4. On February 22, 1980, the Supply Inspector along with C.S.O. and others, while on duty near Hat Muniguda, stopped the Truck No.ORR 2511 and found Bijaya Kumar Agarwala, the appellant herein travelling in the truck carrying 124 bags of paddy. He was charged and tried under Section 7 of the Act as he had no licence issued to him under the Order. He was convicted and sentenced on the finding that his act amounted to storage for which a valid licence was necessary. Since he had no such licence, it was held that he had violated the provisions of the Order. The conviction and the sentence were confirmed in appeal. A revision was filed in the High Court which was referred to a Division Bench; the point of reference being whether paddy loaded in a truck in excess of the permissible limit while in transit can be deemed to be stored within the meaning of the expression storage used in the Order. The Division Bench after examining the law on the point held by the impugned judgment dated December 12, 1988 that under the Order, transhipment in a moving vehicle or vessel amounted to storage . The Cr