The power under Section 6-A(2) of the Essential Commodities Act can be exercised without providing an opportunity of hearing to the concerned person, and the essential commodities seized can be auctioned if they are subject to speedy and natural decay or it is otherwise expedient in the public interest to do so.

( 1 ) ACCORDING to the petitioner, he is a tenureholder and had sown crops of ground nut, Jwar, Jau, Wheat Grain and maize over his land. In order to facilitate the sale of agricutural produce the petitioner has taken on rent House No. 580 Main Road, Babina Cantt. district Jhansi. On 29-7-1991 a first information report was lodged by the respondent No. 2 and according to the petitioner foodgrains belonging to him were seized. In respect of the seized foodgrains the Additional District Magistrate, Jhansi has passed an order dated 12-8-1991 which is contained in Annexure "8" to the writ petition. The seized commodities have been ordered to be auctioned on 12-8-1991 under Section 6-A (2) of the Essential Commodities Act (hereinafter described as the "act" ). It is this order passed under Section 6-A (2) of the Act which has been challenged in this writ petition.

( 2 ) LEARNED counsel for the petitioner has first urged that the entire seizure proceedings are bad inasmuch as the petitioner has not committed any contravention of any order issued under Section 3 / 7 of the Act. We are, however, of the opinion that at the time of the passing of the order under Section 6-A (2) of the Act, the Competent Authority has not to go into the question regarding the validity of the criminal proceedings which have been launched against the petitioner. The only limited purpose for the exercise of the power under Section 6-A (2) of the Act is to pass appropriate orders in case the seized commodity is subject to speedy and natural decay or it is otherwise expedient in the public interest so to do. The argument raised, therefore, has no force.

( 3 ) IT has then been urged that the order under Section 6-A (2) of the Act has been passed without any opportunity to the petitioner. So far as this Court is concerned this precise question came up for consideration before a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Jai Jagdamba Trading Company v. State of U. P. , 1986 EFR 461 where it has been held that in a case under Section 6-A (2) the Legislature has not povided any right to any person for being heard and the opportunity of hearing was expressly excluded.

( 4 ) LOOKING to the nature of the power and the circumstances under which the power under Section 6-A (2) of the Act can be exercised, we are also of the opinion of the Legislature intentionally did not place the authority under a mandate to pass an order only after affording opportunity to the concerned person. The reason was obvious. The power could be exercised only in two circumstances. The first circumstance being that the essential commodity was subject to speedy and natural decay. In case the essential commodity is of such a nature that it would lose its existence for the purposes of consumption in case it was not disposed of at an early date, the authority was rightly directed to get the essential commodity auctioned or sold through a fair price shop in case there was a controlled price fixed by the Central or the State Government. So far as the seized commodity in question is concerned, there cannot be any doubt that the essential commodities are not meant for hoarding but are meant for sale to the general public for consumption either at a price which is prevailing in the open market or in case there is a controlled price then at that price through the fair price shops. Ample safeguards have been provided to see that the price of the essential commodity is realized and the commodity is not allowed to deteriorate in its quality. In the case of bona fide exercise of this power, which we are bound to presume unless shown otherwise, the auction of the seized property in case it is subject to speedy and natural dacay would serve the purpose of the owner inasmuch as by no stretch of imagination it could fetch better price after deterioration. The best price which could be fetched for such an essential commodity which has been seized would be at a stage when it had not deteriorat