Judgment

AHMADI, J.- Special leave granted.

2. The short question which arises for our determination is whether the Collector to whom a report of seizure of any essential commodity is made under Section 6-A of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (hereinafter called the Act), is empowered by virtue of Section 6-E of the Act to release the goods seized in pursuance of an order made under Section 3 in relation thereto during the pendency of the proceedings before the Special Court? The facts, in brief, are as under:

The petitioner being engaged in the manufacture of mustard oil at his factory at 1, Canal Road, Police Station Behala. Calcutta-53, was required to maintain a stock of mustard seed at his factory premises. A contingent of officers of the District Enforcement Branch led by the Investigating Officer Gopal Mosat, the complainant, raided the factory premises of the petitioner on the morning of Sunday, September 20, 1987, in the absence of the petitioner. The said raid continued till the early hours of September 21, 1987. During the said raid 562 bags of mustard seeds and 267 tins of mustard oil, weighing about 39.92 quintals, were seized for purported infraction of the condition