JUDGMENT

KULDIP SINGH, J. :—The Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (the Company), respondent in the appeal herein is primarily engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel/iron and steel materials. According to the Company, it owns captive "coking coal mines" has also installed "coke oven plants" within the factory premises and as such it comes within the definition of colliery under the Colliery Control Order, 1945 (the Order) promulgated by the Government of India. The State of Bihar, with the prior concurrence of the Central Government, and in exercise of the powers conferred by the Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, has issued an order called the Bihar Trade Articles (Licenses Unification) Order, 1984 (the Unification Order).The question for consideration in this appeal is whether the Company is a dealer within the Unification Order, and as such is governed by the provisions thereunder. A Dvision Bench of the Patna High Court has answered the question in the negative and in favour of the Company. This appeal by the State of Bihar is against the judgment of the Patna High Court dated April 14, 1988.

2. The Company has its registered office at Bombay and its integrated steel plant at Jamshedpur. The captive coking coal mines of the Company are in the Jharia Coal Fields and at West Bokaro in the State of Bihar. The coking coal extracted and raised from the mines is beneficiated in the coal washing plants,sterlised at Jamaduba and West Bokaro and thereafter the entire production is transferred to the companys coke oven plants at Jamshedpur for converting the same into hard coke meant for use in the blast furnaces. According to the Company about 85 per cent. of its coal requirement is received from the captive coal mines and the remaining 15 per cent. is procured indigenously or by import from abroad. It is asserted by the Company that for the purpose of steel manufacturing only metallurgical quality of coke is used and for that purpose the coking coal, whether received from the captive coal mines or otherwise, is converted into metallurgical coke through the process of coke oven plants. According to the Company inferior quality of coke such as middlings and coal rejects produced at the Companys collieries and some of the coke fractions such as coke breeze, pearl coke, etc. produced at its oven plants which are not of metallurgical quality and not capable of being used in its steel plant that are sold and disposed of by the Company. It is stated that the disposal of such unwanted and unusable material arising in the continuous process of the integrated manufacturing operation becomes a necessity for preventing congestion in the steel plant.

3. The Supply Inspector of the State of Bihar seized six trucks loaded with coke breeze which were sold by the Company without obtaining licence as envisaged under the Unification Order. Criminal proceedings under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 for violation of the Unification Order were also initiated against the Company, which was challenged by way of a writ petition before the Patna High Court. The primary contention of the Company before the High Court was that it being a colliery under the Order which was Central Government promulgation, the Unification Order issued by the State Government was not applicable. The High Court by the judgment dated November 12, 1986 dimissed the writ petition. The Company challenged the judgment of the High Court by way of special leave petition before this Court. This Court in Civil Appeal 576 of 1987 decided on December 3, 1987 : (reported in 1988 (1) JT (SC) 15) set aside the judgment of the High Court and remanded the matter for fresh decision. The operative part of the order is as under (para 5) :

"We are of the view that very contentious issues were involved in the matter. The aspects that required examination could not have been disposed of in the matter in which the Division Bench has dealt with it. The question as to