Judgment

CHINNAPPA REDDY

( 1 ) IN these petitions under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India the petitioners seek to question the validity of the Rajasthan Wheat (Export Control) Order 1981 and that of a notification issued. under the Rajasthan Trade Articles (Licensing and Control) Order, 1980.

( 2 ) THE Rajasthan Wheat (Export Control) Order purports to prohibit the export of wheat from any place within the State of Rajasthan to any place outside the State except wider and in accordance with a permit issued by the State Government or any officer authorised by the State Government in that behalf. The submission of the learned counsel for the petitioners was that the control order banned the export of wheat from a place within the State of Rajasthan to a place outside the State of Rajasthan and, therefore, it contravened the provisions of the Constitution which guaranteed freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India. According to the learned counsel it might be open to Parliament to make a law banning such export from one State to other States but it could not be done by the State Government in the exercise of a delegated power under the Essential Comm