JUDGMENT

V. Gopala Gowda, J.

These appeals have been directed against the common judgment and order dated 24.04.2007 passed by the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in Letters Patent Appeal Nos. 139 of 2006 and 195 of 2006 in Special Civil Application No. 13606 of 2005 with Civil Application No. 514 of 2006 and Civil Application No. 1380 of 2006 filed by the appellant-Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Baroda (for short “APMC”) as it is aggrieved by the dismissal of its Letters Patent Appeal No.195 of 2006. The High Court allowed Letters Patent Appeal No. 139 of 2006 preferred by the respondent-Company. Both the Letters Patent Appeals were filed against the order dated 22.12.2005 of learned single Judge passed in Special Civil Application No.13606 of 2005 whereby the learned single Judge substantially set aside the order dated 19.4.2005 of the Revisional Authority and partly allowed the application filed by the APMC by framing questions of law.

2. The brief facts of the case are stated below to appreciate the rival claims of the parties and to find out as to whether the appellant-APMC is entitled for the relief sought for in these appeals:

The appellant-APMC was constituted pursuant to Notification issued on 14.1.1958 under the provisions of the Bombay Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1939 and the area of Baroda city and Baroda Taluk of Baroda District was declared as the market area for the purpose of Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”). The respondent-Company, manufacturing castor oil from out of the castor seeds purchased by it comes under the jurisdiction of the market area of the APMC and therefore, it is liable for paying the market fees/cess for the trading activities carried out by it in the market area. APMC levied market fee on the castor seeds bought by the Company on the basis that castor seeds were brought within the market area of APMC. The respondent-Company contested the said levy by filing Revision Application No. 2 of 2005 under Section 48 of the Act before the State Government contending that castor seeds were brought into the market area of the APMC, Baroda as provided under sub-rule (2) of Rule 48 of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Market Rules, 1965 (for short “the Rules”) and no fees are leviable on agricultural produce brought from outside the market area into the market area for use therein by the industrial concern situated in the market area. The State Government vide its order dated 19.04.2005 decided the Revision Application No. 2 of 2005 in favour of the respondent-Company by setting aside the order dated 27.12.2004 issued by the APMC levying the market fee.

3. The APMC filed a Special Application No. 13606 of 2005 under Articles 226, 14 & 19 of the Constitution of India before the High Court against the said order of the State Government. The learned single Judge of the High Court after hearing the parties at length partly allowed the said application holding that the sale of the castor seeds in question took place within the market area of APMC, Baroda, therefore, APMC was right in levying the market fee on the castor seeds purchased by the respondent within the market area of APMC. The learned single Judge in respect to exemption clause in sub-rule 2 of Rule 48 held that the said exemption was available to the agricultural produce brought by the industrial concern itself from outside the market area into the market area of APMC and the exemption was not available where the castor seeds were bought within the market area by the seller and sold to the industrial concern within the market area. As such the learned single Judge upheld the plea of APMC for levy of market fee on the castor seeds purchased by the respondent-Company. In respect to the levy of market fee on de-oiled cake by APMC the learned single Judge accepted the contention urged on behalf of the respondent-Company and held that de-oiled cake could not be treated as oil cake, and