V. RAMASWAMI, J. :- W.P. No.3834 of 1981 has been filed by 17 petitioners who are exporters of onions, praying for writ of Mandamus or other appropriate writ or direction forbearing the second respondent National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of India Ltd., who are hereafter referred to for short as NAFED, "from proceeding with its decision to export 50,000 tonnes of onions to Malaysia and Singapore solely through itself and the third respondent completely excluding the petitioner."

2. The first respondent to this petition is the Union of India. The second respondent is NAFED and the 3rd respondent is another exporter of onions. Kin Guan Choong Sendirian Berhad, a company incorporated under the Malaysian laws and having its registered office at Penang, Malaysia has impleaded itself as a party respondent on the ground that they are importers in respect of the quantity of onions which is the subject matter in this writ petition.

3. The export of onions prior to 1974 was governed by what is known as Open General Licence but subject to quality control and Letters of credit being opened in firm contracts. On 16-11-1974, the Government of India decided to canalise

the export