A. D. DESAI, T. U. MEHTA, J.

( 1 ) THE petitioners herein have by this petition challenged the vires of the rules 48 and 54 of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Rules 1965 thereinafter referred to as the Rules) framed by the State Government under sec. 59 of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act 1963 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ).

( 2 ) THE petitioners are dealing in agricultural produce at Dohad district Panchmahals and are holding A class licence granted by the respondent No. 1 the Agriculture Produce Market Committee at Dohad established under sec. 9 of the Act and which is hereinafter referred to as the Committee.

( 3 ) THE case of the petitioners is that they are interested in the business of buying and selling of agricultural produce on a large scale and hence they have to purchase goods from the places situated either outside the market area established for the purpose of the Act or from outside the State of Gujarat. After purchasing goods in this manner they sell those goods either to the persons who are carrying on business within the market area or to the persons who carry on business outside the market area. According to the petitioners the provisions of the Act and the Rules do not apply to the following categories of transactions entered into by them:-1 The transactions wherein the first petitioner acting as an agent of merchants who carry on their business outside the market area of the respondent-committee or outside the State of Gujarat sells the goods within the market area for or on behalf of those persons. 2 The transactions wherein the first petitioner and other such merchants who act as agent of other merchants who are residing outside the market area of the respondent-committee directly transfer the built to other merchants so as to enable them to procure the agricultural produce purchased by the petitioners from outside Dohad market area. 3 The transactions in which the sales and purchases are effected between a merchant and a merchant within Dohad market area because according to the petitioners the object of the Act is merely to regulate the first sales of agricultural produce by agriculturists to the merchants and not the subsequent sales of the said agricultural produce between a merchant and a merchant.

( 4 ) THE petitioners have also challenged the power of the respondents Committee to levy market fees in case of transaction of sales and purchases between merchants and merchants in the market area.

( 5 ) ACCORDING to the petitioners rule 48 of the Rules which authorises the respondent committee to levy market fees and rule 54 which prohibits the sale and purchase of agricultural produce beyond the market yard are ultra wires the Act as well as the provisions contained in Art. 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution.

( 6 ) CRIMINAL Revision Applications Nos. 347 and 348 of 1972 also raise many points which are common with those raised in this writ petition and hence Shri Vin the learned advocate of the petitioners in those revision applications was allowed to intervene during the course of the hearing of this writ petition and was heard on the common points.

( 7 ) THOUGH In the petition and during the course of the arguments the petitioners have raised many points some of which were over-lapping only the following points have been pressed and they do survive for our consideration in this petition:-1 Whether the Act and the Rules apply only to the sale and purchase of agricultural produce which is grown and produced in the market area notified under sec. 6 of the Act. 2 Whether the Act and the Rules apply only to those transactions of Sale and purchase which are between agriculturists and traders and do not apply to those which are between traders and traders. In this connection Shri Oza had also contended that agricultural product becomes a commercial commodity when the it changes hands and therefore the provisions of the Act and the Rules do not apply when these products are bought or s

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