Notification issued as per the provisions of the section of the Act.

Since all these writ petitions are filed challenging the Notification No. VI/(2)/206/94 dated 29-8-1994 issued by the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine-cum-State Food (Health) Authority, more or less on similar facts and pleadings, and the counter affidavits filed by the respondents also are similar, these writ petitions are being disposed of by this common order as the questions that arise for consideration are substantially similar.

2. Briefly stated the facts as pleaded by the petitioners leading to the writ petitions are the following :-

The petitioner in W.P. No.20443/94 is a registered society and the writ petition is filed by the said society represented by its Secretary giving the list of its members numbering 207. W.P. No.21283 of 1994, federation is a registered society represented by its President having a total membership of 553 small scale manufacturers of ordinary common edible salt. Writ Petition No. 21485 of 1994 is filed by P.V. Rajendran, M.L.A., T.V. House, Vedaranyam, Nagapattinam Quaide-e-Milleth District. W.P. Nos.20565 and 20566 of 1994 are filed by registered societies represented by their Secretaries giving the list of their members as 197 and 123 respectively. W.P. No.488 of 1995 is filed by the Consumer Protection Council represented by its President which Council also is a registered society.

2A. Members of the petitioners-Associations are manufacturers of common edible salt having their salt pans in and around Tuticorin in small areas varying between 2 cents to one acre. Salt is produced by natural process of evaporation by storing salinated water and allowing it to dry by evaporation and thereby producing salt crystals. Not only the members of the petitioners Associations but also several other hundreds of families and small manufacturers are engaged in the production of common salt by the aforesaid process in a small scale in and around Tuticorin. They have been carrying on this manufacturing of common edible salt for the last several decades entirely depending on this occupation, and they have no other trade. They are engaged in the manufacture of common edible salt against difficulties and odds both natural and manual. The climate condusive and congenial in making of salt occurs only for about four months a year between May and August. The average production of salt per year per acre is 200 mt. tonnes. The price per metric tonne is roughly Rs.250/-. The entire turnover per year is about Rs. 50,000/- per acre. The cost of manufacturing including incidental wastages is around Rs. 25,000/-. Hence only a sum of Rs. 2000/- per month is earned by an average family producing salt having one acre of area for making salt by natural process.

3. The members engaged in the manufacture of salt as aforesaid by dint of personal labour of the members of the family for several decades have been carrying on the occupation as the only source of livelihood. The salt produced by such persons account for almost 80% of the production of salt in the country. The traders engaged in the sale of salt used to go to the sites of salt manufacturers and take the produce viz., the edible common salt. The sale price also varies from season to season. The lands on which the salt is manufactured lie along the sea shore belonging to the Government and the members are lessees in respect of the said lands granted for the purpose of manufacturing common edible salt for the last several decades.

4. When things stood thus, the Government of Tamil Nadu has issued the impugned order banning sale of edible common salt other than iodised salt. As a result the traders engaged in sale of salt have clearly stated that they will not buy any salt except iodised salt from anyone. The Assistant Salt Commissioner at Tuticorin has also made it clear to the members of the petitioners Associations and all those engaged in manufacture of common edible salt that other than iodised salt cannot be carried on in view of the Governm