Judgment

SHELAT, J.: This appeal under certificate is directed against the judgment of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh dismissing the writ petition filed by the appellants in that Court.

2. The appellants are a partnership firm carrying on the business of manufacturing and selling bidis and purchase, stock, transport and consume for that purpose considerable quantity of tendu leaves. In 1964, the State Legislature passed the Madhya Pradesh Tendu Patta (Vyapar Viniyaman) Adhiniyam, 29 of 1964( hereinafter referred to as the Act), The Act received the Presidents assent on November 23, 1964 and was brought into force on November 28, 1964. The Act inter alia created a State monopoly in the trade of tendu leaves and under Section 5 (1) thereof prohibited anyone, excepting those mentioned therein either to purchase or transport tendu leaves, Sub-section (2) of Section 5, however, permitted a grower to transport them within the unit where they grow and a purchaser who has purchased them from the state Government, its authorised officers and agents for manufacture bidis or for exporting outside such unit under a permit and in accordance with the terms and conditions thereof. By virtue of Sec. 19 the State Government framed rules called the Madhya Pradesh Tendu Patta (Vyapar Viniyaman) Niyamavali, 1965 (referred to hereinafter as the rules). Rule 9 of the said rules provided for an application for a transport permit in form M and the issuance of such permit in form N. The appellants accordingly applied for and obtained permits authorising them to transport tendu leaves purchased by them from the various forest units to their godowns situate outside those units, In the course of their business the appellants transport the said leaves first from the said units to their warehouses, from there to their branches and thereafter distribute them and tobacco to their sattedars, who are independent contractors, and who in their turn distribute the said leaves and tobacco to various mazdoors living in different villages for rolling the bidis. According to the practice of the appellants, the said sattedars enter into contracts with them under which the appellants supply to them the said leaves and the tobacco and the sattedars deliver to the appellants bidis rolled by the mazdoors in proportion to the quantity of the leaves and tobacco supplied to them. On June 4, 1965, the Divisional Forest Officer issued an order which forbade altogether movement of old tendu leaves and as regards new leaves provided that their movement from one village to another had to be covered by a permit. It also provided that permits would be necessary for bulk transport from warehouses to branches and from there to sattedars, and that such permits would be issued by range assistants and range officers on receipt of applications therefor. The appellants thereupon made a representation to the Divisional Forest Officer mentioning the several difficulties which would result from the said order and the said officer, by his order dated June 8, 1965, in partial modification of his said order, permitted branch managers of bidi manufacturing firms themselves to issue transport permits to sattedars. Finding, however, that instead of distributing the said leaves to the sattedars, the branch managers were issuing permits for bulk transport, the said officer on October 12, 1965 rescinded his order of June 8, 1965. The result was that the appellants were required to obtain permits for moving the tendu leaves from their branch offices to the sattedars. The appellants thereafter filed the said writ petition in the High Court claiming that under Section 5 and the said rules they were required to obtain permits only when moving the leaves purchased by them from units where they were grown to their warehouses and that once they were so moved to the warehouses there could be no restriction in their further movement from the warehouses to their branches and from there to their sattedars and t