Y. BHASKAR RAO, J.

( 1 ) THE writ appeals are filed assailing the judgment of the single Judge in allowing the writ petitions and declaring certain amendments made to rules 3,4 (1) (b), 4 (2), 4 (3), 5 (1) and 6a of the Andhra Pradesh Saw Mills (Regulation) rules, 1969 through G. O. Ms. No. 92, Energy and Forests, dated 16-4-1994 as unconstitutional being violative of Article 19 (1 Xg) of the constitution and beyond the rule making power of the State Government.

( 2 ) THE writ petitions are filed assailing the orders of the authorities refusing to renew the licence and to grant licences for the saw mills.

( 3 ) THE brief facts are that all the writ petitioners have established their saw mills in different villages and towns of Andhra pradesh. The appellants in the writ appeals established the saw mills in and around hyderabad long ago. The Andhra Pradesh forest Act, 1967 came in to force on 15-4-1967 (hereinafter called as the Act ). The A. P. Saw Mills (Regulation) Rules, 1969 are framed exercising the rule making power under Section 29 read with Section 68 of the andhra Pradesh Forest Act, 1967. The object of the Act is to consolidate and amend the law relating to forest and forest produce in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

( 4 ) CHAPTER-I of the Act deals with the preliminary; Chapter-II deals with the reserved Forests; Chapter-III deals with the Protected Forests; Chapter-III A deals with the preservation of private forests; chapter IV deals with the control of timber and other forest produce in transit or possession; Chapter VII deals with penalities and procedure and Chapter IX deals with the powers of Forest Officers; Chapter-X deals with the miscellaneous. Section - 2 deals with the definitions. Section 2 (d) defines forest Division thus:" forest Division means such area as may be declared, by notification, by the government or by such authority as may be empoweredby the Govemment in this behalf to be a forest division for the purposes of this Act. "section 2 (g) deals with forest produce . Section - 3 of the Act says that the government may constitute any land as a reserved forest in the manner provided in section 4. Sections - 4 and 6 provide the procedure for declaring an area as reserved forest. Section23 empowers the Government to declare the reserved forest as no longer reserved. In Chapter-IV, Section 29 empowers the Government to make rules to regulate the transit or possession of timber and other forest produce. Section 29 (2) (h) empowers the State to frame rules to prohi bit absolutely or subject to conditions within such local limits as may be specified, the establishment of pits or machinery for sawing, converting, cutting, burning, concealing or making of timber, the altering or effecting of any marks on the same, of the possession or carrying of hammers or other implements used for marking timber. In Chapter-X, section - 68 of the Act provides powers to state Government to frame rules to carry out all or any of the purposes of this Act.

( 5 ) THE Government of Andhra Pradesh while exercising its rule making power under section 29 (1) read with sub-section 1 of section 68 of the Act has made the rules to regulate the location of the sawmills and conversion of timber at the saw mills in the state. These rules are called Andhra Pradesh saw Mills (Regulation) Rules, 1969 which came into force on 12-3-1969. The rules framed videg. O. Ms. No. 438,datedl2-3-1969 and thereafter G. O. Ms. No. 357, Forests and Rural Development (For. III) dated 5-5-1979, wereissued by amending the rules. Similarly, vide G. O. Ms. No. 483, Forests and rural Development (For. I) dated 24-9-1981 and G. O. Ms. No. 234, dated23-5-1985,the government amended the rules from time to time. The crucial amendments, which are made in the rules are G. O. Ms. No. 448, dated 28-12-1989 and G. O. Ms. No. 92, dated 16-4-1994. For the first time in the year 1981, the amended Rule 3 provided that no person shall instal or erect or operate a saw

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