S.C. DHARMADHIKARI & S.P. DESHMUKH, JJ.

1. Rule. Respondents waive service. By consent of the parties, Rule is made returnable forthwith.

2. By this Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners are praying for issuance of a writ of mandamus or any other writ, order or direction declaring a circular dated 4th March, 2013 as ultra vires to Articles 14 & 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India and/or Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 ( for short, “Foreign Trade Act”).

3. The challenge is raised in the following factual background.

4. The petitioners are a Company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 and inter alia engaged in the business of manufacture and export of Acetyls. The petitioners submit that one of the major raw materials for manufacture and export of Acetyls is Acetic Acid.

5. We are concerned in this case with the import of Acetic Acid. The petitioners point out that they are leading exporters of Acetyls from India. In para-5 of the Writ Petition they have given the figures of total exports