Judgment

P. N. BHAGWATI, J.:- This appeal, by special leave raises a very short question of construction of certain provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Produce and Live-Stock Markets Act. 1966 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The narration of a few facts giving rise to the appeal would help to appreciate the question which arises for determination, but it would be convenient first to refer to the relevant provisions of the Act before we recapitulate the facts.

2. The Act is a species of legislation which has now been enacted in almost all States of India with a view to providing satisfactory conditions for the growers of agricultural produce to sell their produce on equal terms and at reasonable prices. Section 2 gives definitions of the various terms used in the Act while Section 3 provides for issue of notification by the Government declaring a specific area "to be a notified area for the purposes of this Act in respect of any agricultural produce, livestock and products of livestock." Then comes Section 4, which says in sub-section (1), which is the only sub-section material for our purpose:

"The Government shall constitute, by notification, a market committee for every notified area from such date as may be specified in the notification and the market committee so constituted shall be a body corporate by such name as the Government may specify in the said notification, having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property and may, by its corporate name, sue and be sued."

The composition of market committee is laid down in Section 5. Sub-section (1) of that section provides;

"Every market committee shall consist of such number of members, being not less than twelve and not more than sixteen, as may be fixed for it by the Government and shall be constituted in the following manner:-

(i) not less than one -half of the members, to be appointed by the Government, after consultation with the Director of Marketing, from among the growers of agricultural produce and the owners of livestock and products of livestock in the notified area:

(ii) one non-official from the notified area, to be elected by the members of the local cooperative marketing societies; or in the absence of such societies to be elected as specified in clause (iv);

(iii) (a) one representative, having jurisdiction over the notified area, of the Agricultural Department or the Animal Husbandry Department, to be appointed by the Government:

(b) two representatives, one each, of the municipality within which the office of the market committee is located and of the gram panchayats comprised in the notified area, to be elected by the members of the municipality and the gram panchayats respectively: or in the absence of such municipality both representatives to be elected by the members of the gram panchayats: or in the absence of a gram panchayat, only one representative to be elected by the municipality;

(iv) the remaining members, to be elected in the prescribed manner by the persons licensed under sub-section (1) of Section 7 in the notified area from among themselves:

Provided that where a market committee is constituted in any notified area for the first time, the Government shall appoint the members under this clause from out of a panel of traders of the notified agricultural produce, livestock or products or livestock in the notified area, furnished by the Director of Marketing to the Government."

Sub-section (2) says that every market committee shall elect two of its members other than those mentioned in clause (iii) of sub-section (1), to be respectively Chairman and Vice-Chairman, and subsection (3) enacts that save as otherwise provided in the Act, the term of office of the members appointed or under sub-section (1) shall be three years from the date of the election of the Chairman. The other sub-sections of Section 5 are not material and we need not refer to them, Sub-section (2) of Section 6 empowers the