Judgment :-

Dr. B.S. Chauhan, J.

1. This appeal has been preferred against the impugned judgment and order dated 2.5.2003, passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 749 of 2003, by way of which the High Court has allowed the writ petition quashing the order of the State Government by which the Public Distribution System (hereinafter called as ‘PDS’) through the Gram Panchayats had been withdrawn.

2. Facts and circumstances giving rise to this appeal are:

A. The PDS was formulated for urban/rural consumers with the objective of monitoring the supplies of food grains and other essential commodities, of securing their equitable distribution and availability at the fair price, and of stabilising the prices of the essential commodities in the open market. With these objectives in mind, various schemes were prepared to help the beneficiaries, such as Annapurna Anna Yojana, Antyodaya Ann Yojana, BPL, etc.

B. In order to achieve the aforesaid objectives, the Government of India, in exercise of its power under Section 5 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘EC Act’), issued Notification dated 9.6.1978 delegating the pow