SUKHVINDER PAL BIPAN KUMAR V. STATE OF PUNJAB AND ORS INSC 196; AIR 1982 SC 65; 1982 SCR 31; 1982 SCC 31; 1981 SCALE 1795

B. Datta for the Petitioners in the Writ Petitions. Ravindra Bana for the Petitioners in both the SLPs. O. P. Sharma and M. S. Dhillon for the Respondents. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SEN, J. These petitions are under Art. 32 of the Constitution and the connected special leave petitions mainly challenge the constitutional validity of the second proviso to sub-clause(1) of cl 11 of the Punjab Foodgrains Dealers Licensing and Price Control Order, 1978 (for short 'the Order'), as inserted by the Punjab Foodgrains Dealers Licensing and Price Control (First Amendment) Order, 1980, with effect from March 27, 1980, as violative of Arts. 14 and 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution, as also the legality and propriety of the action of the licensing authorities in suspending the licences held by the petitioners. The case deals with Foodgrains dealers in Punjab who have their licenses suspended by District Food and Supplies Controllers, Faridkot and Bhatinda, for up to 90 days. The suspensions are based on allegations of breach of license conditions Nos. 4, 8, and 10. The petitioners have been served notices to prove their innocence. Some petitioners admitted to suspending their licenses for alleged breach of licence conditions, selling large wheat quantities to dealers outside the State without disclosing purchaser names. The petitioners of a Punjabi state are also suing the state government for suspending their wheat dealers' licenses under a law. They claim that the suspension was a punitive measure, as they had first filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. The state claims that the petitioners were served with show-cause notices for breaching their licence conditions. The petitioners argue that the second proviso to sub-cl. (1) of cl.11 of the law infringes on their fundamental right to trade or business, and that the suspension was mala fide and motivated, not due to any breach of their licence conditions. It is said that the real purpose was to prevent them from exporting wheat from the State of Punjab to various other States in the course of inter-State trade and commerce within the meaning of Art. 301 of the Constitution