The trial court should proceed with a case unless an order from the High Court grants a stay of further proceedings.

JUDGMENT :

Ananya Bandyopadhyay, J.

1. This instant criminal revisional application is preferred against an order dated 01.04.2013 passed by the Learned Judicial Magistrate, 4th Court at Howrah rejecting the prayer for stay of all further proceedings of Complaint Case No. 28C of 2012 (T.R. No. 31 of 2012) under Sections 34(5) and 34(7) of the West Bengal Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1972 for violation of Section 17A of the said Act.

2. The Learned Advocate for the petitioners submitted as follows:

i. Petitioners No. 2 to 5 had been the Directors of M/s SAJ Industries Pvt. Ltd., a company within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1956 with its registered office at Purna Bhavan, 5/1, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road, Kolkata – 700020 which merged with M/s SAJ Food Products Pvt. Ltd. in terms of an order dated 31.01.2011 passed by the Hon’ble High Court at Calcutta in Company Petition No. 529 of 2010 connected with Company Application No. 810 of 2010. Petitioner no. 6 had been the Chairman of M/s SAJ Industries Ltd. which merged with M/s SAJ Food Products Pvt. Ltd. Petitioners No. 2 and 3 had been the Joint Managing Directors & petitioners No. 4 and 5 had been the directors of M/s SAJ Food Products Pvt. Ltd.

ii. M/s SAJ Industries Pvt. Ltd. had been engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing and selling of biscuits and bakery products from its factory/manufacturing unit at Moheshpur, Uluberia, Birshibpur, District – Howrah.

iii. For the purpose of manufacturing biscuits and bakery products, the petitioners procured processed raw materials like flour, sugar, skimmed milk, edible oil, cashew, nut, spice etc. from various suppliers across the State of West Bengal as well as from other States. Using these raw materials, petitioners manufactured new and distinct articles with a separate name, character, use and marketable individuality entirely changed in form, contour, physical appearance and chemical combination.

iv. The aforesaid materials were thereafter used in manufacture of a different kind of ‘product’, namely, “biscuits and bakery products” where the “materials” used in its manufacture lost its identity. This “biscuits and bakery product” was a different commercial commodity of its own, capable of being sold in the market with its own identity.

v. The petitioners procured raw materials, some of which were ‘agricultural produce’ not for the purpose of dealing with the same in the market as such. The petitioners procured the materials and assorted it in appropriate combination for manufacturing biscuits and other bakery products which were not ‘agricultural produce’. The said ‘biscuits and bakery products’ were not ‘agricultural’ within the meaning of the said Act. Section 13 of the said Act dealing with licenses required to be gleaned by them who undertook the activities referred to therein for trading purpose and not for manufacturing purpose. A manufacturer procuring raw materials, some of which were ‘agricultural produce’ could not have come within the purview of the said Act. Both the purpose and the end product should be within the purview of the said Act to create a liability.

vi. The West Bengal Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1972 had been enacted “to provide for the regulation of marketing of agricultural produce in West Bengal; whereas it is expedient to provide for the regulation of marketing of agricultural produce in West Bengal and for matters connected”.

vii. The provisions of the West Bengal Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1972 enacted the liability of submitting fortnightly returns to the Regulated Market Committee and paying of market fee to such Market Committee as envisaged in Section 17 and 17A of the said Act, which did not and could not apply in respect of the petitioners as they were in the business of manufacturing, marketing and selling of biscuits and bakery products which in no way could be equated with the ‘agricultural produce’ as defined in Se