JUDGMENT :

R.F. Nariman, J.

Leave granted.

2. The present appeals arise out of Writ Petition (C) No. 6517/2003 filed by the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India in the High Court of Delhi, seeking a declaration that the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976, the Standards of Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act, 1985 and the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977 are not applicable to services rendered in the premises of hotels/restaurants.

3. The appellant's main concern was that the Controller of Weights and Measures was seeking to proceed against the hotels and restaurants of the appellant-Association for charging a price higher than the printed Maximum Retail Price ("MRP" in short) for supply of packaged water bottles during services provided to their customers while in the hotels and restaurants. The appellants plead in the Writ Petition that the transaction consisting predominantly of a service, and not of a sale of drinking water, consisted of a composite charge which included incidental charges for food, drinks etc. The challenge in the Writ Petition resulted in a judgment by the learned Single Judge da