B. SUBHASHAN REDDY, J.

( 1 ) HOW a disabling legal provision confiscatory in nature has to be construed and what is the degree of disproof to be considered in such cases arises for consideration in this case, which came up by way of reference by a Division Bench doubting the proposition laid down by an earlier Division Bench in Forest Range Officer v. Pritam Singh, 1990 (1) ALT 156.

( 2 ) FEW facts, which are indisputable, may be necessarry to be stated.

( 3 ) THE 1st Respondent is the owner of lorry bearing Registration No. MMP/1699. He is a resident of Bombay (now Mumbai) and the same was sent on hire for transporting ACC cement from Manchcrial of Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh to Mumbai. The 1st Respondent was not accompanying the said vehicle and all the documents show that the said vehicle was engaged for transportation of cement from Manchcrial to Mumbai. The 2nd Respondent was the driver. The vehicle left Mumbai and was to pick up the cement at Mancherial in the second week of December, 1981. But, it seems that mere was some delay in loading the cement and the 2nd Respondent-driver on his own had accepted the transportation of timber, which is a forest produce within th

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