Appeal No 1464 of 1968
Appeal from the judgment and order dated March 18 1968 of the Patna High Court in CWJC No 816 of 1967
A K Sen Bhola Sen D Parkar Gupta Om Khetan BP Maheshwari and RK Maheshwari for the appellant
MC Chagla and RC Prasad for respondents Nos 1 and 2
MC Chagla DP Singh SC Agarwal Uma Dutta and section Chakravarti for respondent No 5
Sobhugmal Jain and Krishna Sen for respondent Nos 6 to 8
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Hegde J
This appeal by certificate arises from the decision rendered on 18th March 1968 by the Patna High Court in CWJC No 816 of 1967
That was a petition filed by the appellant under article 226 of the Constitution praying inter alia that the High Court may be pleased to quash the two orders made by the Cane Commissioner Bihar on November 14 1967 under which he excluded 99 villages from the area reserved by him in favour of the appellant under cl 6 of the Sugar Cane Control Order 1966 to be hereinafter referred to as the order  and included those villages in the area reserved in favour of New Siwan Mill 5th respondent in this appeal
The High Court dismissed that writ petition
The appellant Co was established in 1903
Though its sugar mill is in UP it used to draw its sugarcane requirement mainly from the neighboring areas in Bihar State
The mill in question is within about 100 yards of the Bihar border
The appellant s case is that for the last over 30 years the 208 villages of Bihar with which we are concerned in this appeal had been the principal source of its supply of sugarcane and that the Bihar authorities used to reserve those villages for it
The appellant claims to have spent huge amount in the development of sugarcane growing areas in the said 208 villages in the course of years
It also claims to have advanced large sums to the sugarcane growers in the said villages such sums to be adjusted later on against the price of the sugarcane purchased
In 1955 the Central Govern 810 ment promulgated the order  in exercise of its powers under the Essential Commodities Act
One of the main purpose of that order was to regulate the supply and distribution of sugarcane
Reservation of the said 208 villages in favour of the appellant continued under that order
But in view of the agitation carried on by the 5th respondent and others during the two seasons 1962 63 and 1963 64 those villages were kept unreserved
Hence any factory was free to make purchases in that area
Even during that period the appellant continued to get its supplies from that area
On February 3 1964 there was a meeting of the Cane Commissioners of Bihar and UP with the object of deciding on a long term basis the question of allotting sugarcane grown in the border area among the sugar factories situated near the Bihar UP border
In that meeting it was decided inter alia that the aforementioned 208 villages should be reserved in favour of the appellant at the same time some of sugarcane growing areas in UP were reserved for some of the Bihar sugar mills
Accordingly the Cane Commissioner of Bihar passed orders reserving the aforementioned 208 villages for the appellant for two seasons ie 1964 65 and 1965 66
For the New Siwan mill 5th respondent 100 more villages were reserved in Guthani area
The representation of the New Siwan mill for reserving the 208 villages mentioned earlier was rejected by the Cane Commissioner
The powers of the Central Government under cls
6 7 8 and 9 of the order  were delegated to the several States and the Cane Commissioners mentioned in the notification issued by the Central Government on July 16 1966
The State Government of Bihar and the Cane Commissioner of Bihar are amongst the authorities to whom the powers under those clauses were delegated
By its order of November 4 1966 the State Government of Bihar rejected the representation made by New Siwan mill by its application of February 17 1966 asking for reservation of the 208 villages mentioned earlier
Thereafter by his order of December 30 1966 the Cane Commissioner Bihar reserved those villages for the appellant under el
61a of the order  for two seasons 1966 67 and 1967 68
The New Siwan mill challenged the validity of that order in CWJC No 63 of 1967 in the Patna High Court
The appellant filed its counter affidavit in that proceeding on March 21 1967
The application was heard in part on Aprii 13 1967 and April 14 1967 but thereafter the case was adjourned
Later the appellant learnt that the 5th respondent had moved the Chief Minister of Bihar to revoke the reservation made in favour of the appellant
Apprehending that the appellant s interest may be jeopardised one of the Directors of the appellant company wrote to the Chief Minister on June 15 1967 praying that the reservation made in favour of the appellant should 811 not be disturbed
Subsequent to that the appellant made numerous other representations both to the Chief Minister as well as to the Cane Commissioner
One of the Director of the appellant company met the Chief Minister as well as his Private Secretary
Meanwhile the 5th respondent was also making representations to the Chief Minister as well as to the Cane Commissioner
From the records produced before us it is clear that the Cane Commissioner was firmly of the opinion that there was no justification for disturbing the reservation made in favour of the appellant
He strongly recommended to the Chief Minister against interfering with the said reservation
According to him it was in the interest of the Sugar industry as well as that of the Sugar mills in Bihar not to disturb the agreement arrived at the meeting of the Sugar Cane Commissioners of UP and Bihar
From the records
produced before us it is seen that one of the grounds urged by the 5th respondent in support of his plea was that while it was a Bihar mill the appellant was a UP mill and as such the Bihar villages should be reserved for its use
From the note submitted by Shri Taring Sahai an officer in the Cane Commissioner s department to the Assistant Cane Commissioner on July 5 1967 it is seen that the Chief Minister was interesting himself  in the controversy between the appellant and  the 5th respondent
That is also clear from the note submitted by section Asanullah another officer in the same department to the Cane Commissioner  on 7 7 1967
It is unnecessary to refer to the correspondence that passed between the Cane Commissioner and the Chief Minister but one thing is clear from that correspondence that while the Cane Commissioner was firm in his opinion that the agreement entered into between him and his counter part in UP should be respected the Chief Minister was inclined to alter the reservation made in favour of the appellant
In the notes submitted by the Assistant Cane Commissioner to the Cane Commissioner we find the following statement As verbally ordered by the Cane Commissioner in the background of the above notes of the Assistant Cane Commissioner in connection with the discussions held with the Chief Minister the undersigned examined the geographical positions given in the map
208 villages of Bihar are reserved for Pratabpur mill
They are divided as follows a Mirganj police station  87 b Siwan police station  106 c Darauli police station  15 Total 
208  812 In the note submitted by the Cane Commissioner to the Chic Minister on October 27 1967 it is stated As per order the above two suggestions Ka and Kha have been given for division of 208 villages between the New Siwan Mill and the Pratabpur Mill
According to one Ka the New Siwan Mill gets 121 villages and according to the second proposal Kha it gets 99 villages
As it is clear from the notes of the Assistant Cane Commissioner the Chief Minister has ordered that most of these 208 villages may be given to the New Siwan Mill
This order is carried out under proposal Kha  but under it about 20 22 such villages come as are at a distance of only 2 3 miles from the Pratabpur Mill and the farmers of those villages can also have some objection on account of it
Hence only after obtaining a clear order from the Chief Minister the necessary notification will be issued
Sd Illegible 27 10
 On November 7 1967 the Chief Minister passed the following order on the above note
I agree with the notes as at Kha of page 33
99 villages be left to the New Siwan Mill and 109 villages to the Pratabpur Mill
None of the two mills will have the right to keep the weigh bridge of sugar cane collecting centre in the area of each other
Sd Mahamaya Pd
Sinha 7 11 67
 On the basis of this direction the Cane Commissioner made the impugned orders on November 14 1967 which were duly published in the Gazette
In the High Court the validity of the order made by the Cane Commissioner on November 14 1967 was challenged on six different grounds ie 1  that the Cane Commissioner had no jurisdiction to pass those orders 2 in passing those orders the Cane Commissioner practically abdicated his statutory functions and mechanically implemented the directions issued by the Chief Minister 3 the orders are vitiated as the proceeding before the authority culminating in those orders was a quasi judicial proceeding and the authority had failed to afford a reasonable opportunity to the appellant to represent against the orders proposed to be made 4 even if the proceeding in question should be 813 considered as an administrative proceeding as the orders made involve civil consequence and the proceeding having not been conducted consistently with the rules of natural justice the impugned orders cannot be sustained 5 those orders were passed mala fide and lastly 6 they are discriminatory against the petitioner and hence hit by article 14 of the Constitution
The High Court rejected every one of the contentions
It came to the conclusion that the Cane Commissioner who had the power to make reservations under cl 6 of the order  had also the power to modify Or cancel those reservations in view of section 21 of the General Clauses Act the impugned orders were that of the Cane Commissioner both in fact as well as in law the proceeding before the Cane Commissioner which resulted in making the impugned orders is a purely administrative proceeding even if it is considered to be quasi judicial proceeding reasonable opportunity had been given to the appellant to represent its case and in fact it had represented its case fully and effectively the plea of mala fide is unsubstantiated and the orders in question did not contravene article 14 of the Constitution
In this Court Shri AK Sen learned Counsel for the appellant attacked the impugned order on the following grounds 1 The orders in question though purported to have been made by the Cane Commissioner were in fact not so the Cane Commissioner merely acted as the mouth piece of the Chief Minister in truth he had abdicated his statutory functions and therefore the orders are bad 2 Every proceeding to modify any reservation made under cl
6 of the order  is a quasi judicial proceeding
As the impugned modifications were made without affording the appellant reasonable opportunity for representing its case they are bad in law 3 Even if the said proceeding is considered as an administrative proceeding the impugned orders are liable to be set aside on the basis of the rule laid down by this Court in State of Orissa vs Dr Miss Binapani Dei and Ors
1 and  4 
The impugned modifications contravene article 301 of the Constitution
Shri Sen did not address any arguments on the last ground formulated by him
Therefore we shall not deal with the same
The contentions of Shri MC Chagla learned Counsel for the State of Bihar as well as the 5th respondent were as follows Though the Cane Commissioner had consulted the Chief Minister the impugned orders were really made by the former hence it cannot be said that he had abdicated his statutory func 1  814 tions
According to him the proceeding before the Cane Commissioner was administrative in character and to such a proceeding rules of natural justice are not attracted
He further urged that even if it is held that the said proceeding was a quasi judicial proceeding there was no contravention of the principles of natural justice as the appellant had represented his case fully both before the Chief Minister as well as before the Cane Commissioner
Before we proceed to examine the contentions advanced on behalf of the parties it is necessary to refer to the relevant provisions of law
Clause 5 of the order  which deals with the power to regulation distribution and movement of sugarcane reads as under 1 The Central Government may by order notified in the official gazette a reserve any area where sugarcane is grown hereinafter in this clause referred to as reserved area for a factory having regard to the crushing capacity of the factory the availability of sugarcane in the reserved area and the need for production of sugar with a view to enabling the factory to purchase the quantity of sugarcane required by it b determine the quantity of sugarcane which a factory will require for crushing during any year c fix with respect to any specified sugarcane grower or sugarcane growers generally in a reserved area the quantity or percentage of sugarcane grown by such grower or growers as the case may be which each such grower by himself or if he is a member of a co operative society of sugarcane growers operating in the reserved area through such society shall supply of the factory concerned d direct a sugarcane grower or a sugarcane growers  cooperative society supplying sugarcane to a factory and the factory concerned to enter into an agreement to supply or purchase as the case may be the quantity of sugarcane fixed under paragraph c e direct that no gur jaggery or khandsari sugar or sugar shall be manufactured from sugarcane except under and in accordance with the conditions specified in the licence issued in this behalf f prohibit or restrict or otherwise regulate the export of sugarcane from any area including a reserved 815 area except under and in accordance with a permit issued in this behalf
2 Every sugarcane grower sugarcane growers  co operative society and factory to whom or to which an order made under paragraph c of sub clause 1 applies shall be bound to supply or purchase as the case may be that quantity of sugarcane covered by the agreement entered into under the paragraph and any wailful failure on the part of the sugarcane growers  cooperative society or the factory to do so shall constitute a breach of the provisions of this Order Provided that where the default committed by any sugarcane growers  co operative society is due to any failure on the part of any sugarcane grower being a member of such society such society shall not be bound to make supplies of sugarcane to the factory to the extent of such default
Clause 11  deals with delegation of powers
It reads The Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette direct that all or any of the powers conferred upon it by this Order shall subject to such restrictions exceptions and conditions if any as may be specified in the direction be exercisable also by a any officer or authority of the Central Government b a State Government or any officer or authority of a State Government As seen earlier the Central Government had delegated its power under cl
6 to the State Government of Bihar as well as to the Cane Commissioner Bihar
In the matter of exercise of the power under rule 61 the State Government and the Cane Commissioner are concurrent authorities
Their jurisdiction is co ordinate
There was some controversy before us whether a Cane Commissioner who had reserved an area for a sugar factory for a particular period can alter amend or modify the area reserved in the middle of the period fixed
As seen earlier 208 villages With which we are concerned in this case were reserved for the appellant for two seasons ie 1966 67 and 1967 68
The contention was that the Cane Commissioner could not have interfered with that reservation within that period
The High Court has come to the conclusion that the Cane Commissioner who had the power to make the reservation in question must be held to have had the power to alter or modify that reservation
But it is not necessary for us to pronounce on this question as we are of the opinion that the 816 impugned orders though purported to have been made by the Cane Commissioner were in fact made by the Chief Minister and hence they are invalid
We have earlier seen that the Cane Commissioner was definitely of the view that the reservation made in favour of the appellant should not be disturbed but the Chief Minister did not agree with that view
It is clear from the documents before us that the Chief Minister directed the Cane Commissioner to divide the reserved area into two portions and allot one portion to the 5th respondent
In pursuance of that direction the Cane Commissioner prepared two lists Ka  and Kha
Under the orders of the Chief Minister the villages contained in list Ka  were allotted to the appellant and in list Kha  to the 5th respondent
The Cane Commissioner merely carried out the orders of the Chief Minister
It is true that the impugned orders were issued in the name of the Cane Commissioner
He merely obeyed the directions issued to him by the Chief Minister
We are unable to agree with the contention of Shri Chagla that though the Cane Commissioner was initially of the view that the reservation made in favour of the appellant should not be disturbed he changed his opinion after discussion with the Chief Minister
From the material before us the only conclusion possible is that the Chief Minister imposed his opinion on the Cane Commissioner
The power exercisable by the Cane Commissioner under cl
61 is a statutory power
He alone could have exercised that power
While exercising that power he cannot abdicate his responsibility in favour of anyone not even in favour of the State Government or the Chief Minister
It was not proper for the Chief Minister to have interfered with the functions of the Cane Commissioner
In this case what has happened is that the power of the Cane Commissioner has been exercised by the Chief Minister an authority not recognised by cl
6 read with cl
11 but the responsibility for making those orders was asked to be taken by the Cane Commissioner
The executive officers entrusted with statutory discretions may in some cases be obliged to take into account considerations of public policy and in some context the policy of a Minister or the Government as a whole when it is a relevant factor in weighing the policy but this will not absolve them from their duty to exercise their personal judgment in individual cases unless explicit statutory provision has been made for them to be given binding instructions by a superior
In Commissioner of Police Bombay vs Gordhandas Bhanji1 this Court struck down the order purported to have been passed by the Commissioner of Police in the exercise of his powers 1  817 under the Bombay Police Act and the rules made thereunder as the order in question was in fact that of the Government
The rule laid down in that decision governs the question under consideratiing
This Court reiterated that rule in State of Punjab vs Hari Kishan Sharma1
Therein this Court held that the State Government was not justified in assuming jurisdiction which had been conferred on the licensing authority by section 5 1  and 2 of the Punjab Cinemas Regulation Act
For the reasons mentioned above we hold that the impugned orders are liable to be struck down as they were not made by the prescribed authority
This takes us to the question whether the proceeding which resulted in making the impugned orders is a quasi judicial proceeding or an administrative proceeding
There was some controversy before us whether a proceeding under el
61 of the order  is a quasi judicial proceeding
It is not necessary for us to decide that question as in this case we are only concerned with the proceeding which resulted in making the impugned orders
In that proceeding the only question before the authorities was whether all or some of the villages reserved for the appellant should be taken out from the reserved area and reserved for the 5th respondent
The plea of the 5th respondent was that all those villages should be reserved for it whereas the appellant insisted that the reservation made in its favour should not be disturbed
Whether there was a lis between the appellant and the 5th respondent at an earlier stage or not we are of the opinion as soon as the 5th respondent moved the Government for altering or modifying the reservation made in favour of the appellant a lis commenced
The dispute that arose between the appellant and the 5th respondent had to be decided on the basis of the objective criteria prescribed by cl 6 of the order  ie 1 the crushing capacity of the appellant mill 2 the availability of the sugarcane in the reserved area and 3 the need for the production of sugar
There is hardly any doubt that the modification of the reservation made in favour of the appellant would have had serious repercussions on the working of the appellant s mill
It was bound to affect its interests adversely
Hence it is not possible to accept the conclusion of the High Court that the proceeding before the Cane Commissioner was not a quasi judicial proceeding
The impugned orders are similar to orders revoking or modifying licenses
It would not be proper to equate an order revoking or modifying a licence with a decision not to grant a licence
Therefore Shri Chagla is not right in his contention that 1  818 in this case we are called upon to deal with a privilege and not right
As observed by SA De Smith in his Judicial Review Administrative Action 2nd Edn at p 211 To equate a decision summarily to revoke a licence with a decision not to grant a licence in the first instance may be still more unrealistic
Here the privilege concept may be peculiarly inapposite and its aptness has not been enhanced by the manner in which it has been employed in some modern cases
It is submitted that the courts should adopt a presumption that prior notice and opportunity to be heard should be given before a licence can be revoked
The presumption should be rebuttable in similar circumstances to those in which summary interference with vested property rights may be permissible
That the considerations applicable to the revocation of licences may be different from those applicable to the refusal of licences has indeed been recognised by some British statutes and a number of judicial decisions in other Commonwealth jurisdictions
 In Province of Bombay vs Kusaldas section Advani and Ors1 Das J formulated the following tests to find out whether proceeding before an authority or a tribunal  is a quasi judicial proceeding  i that if a statute empowers an authority not being a Court in the ordinary sense to decide disputes arising out of a claim made by one party under the statute which claim is opposed by another party and to determine the respective rights of the contesting parties who are opposed to each other there is a lis and prima facie and in the absence of anything in the statute to the contrary it is the duty of the authority to act judicially and the decision of the authority is a quasi judicial act  red ii that if a statutory authority has power to do any act which will prejudicially affect the subject then although there are not two parties apart from the authority and the contest is between the authority proposing to do the act and the subject opposing it the final determination of the authority will yet be a quasi judicial act provided the authority is required by the statute to act judicially
These tests were adopted by this Court in Shivji Nathubhai vs The Union of India and Ors2
Therein this Court was 1  at p 725
2  819 considering the validity of cancellation in review by the Central Government a mining lease granted by the State Government
In that context this Court held that even if the act of the State Government in granting a mining lease was an administrative act it was not correct to say that no right of any kind passed to the lessee until the review was decided by the Central Government where a review had been applied for
Rule 52 of the rules framed under the Mines and Minerals Regulation and Development Act No 53 of 1941 which gives the aggrieved party the right to a review created a lis between him and the lessee and consequently in the absence of anything to the contrary either in rule 54 or the statute itself there could be no doubt that the Central Government is required to act judicially under rule 54
This Court in Board of High School and Intermediate Education UP Allahabad vs Ghanshyam Das Gupta and Ors1 held that where the statute in question is silent as to the manner in which the power conferred should be exercised by the authority acting under it the exercise of power will depend on the express provisions of the statute read alongwith the nature of the rights affected the manner of disposal provided the objective criteria if any to be adopted the effect of the decision on the persons affected and other indicate afforded by the statute
The mere fact that the Act in question or the relevant Regulations do not make it obligatory on the authority to call for an explanation and to hear the person concerned is not conclusive on the question whet her the authority has to act as a quasi judicial body when exercising its power under the statute
On applying the various tests enunciated in the above decisions there is hardly any doubt that the proceeding before the Cane Commissioner was a quasi judicial proceeding
In this connection reference may be usefully made to the decision of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand in New Zealand Dairy Board vs Okitu Co operative Dairy Co Ltd2
We are referring to that decision because the facts of that case bear a close resemblance to the facts of the present case
Therein as a result of a Zoning Order made by the Executive Commissioner of Agriculture in May 1937 the respondent dairy company carrying on business in Gisborne and the surrounding district and the Kia Ora Co operative Dairy Co Ltd became entitled to operate exclusively in a defined area in the Gisborne district
They were excluded from operating outside that area
The zoning conditions so established continued to exist until 1950 when the appellant Board issued the zoning orders which were impugned in that case
It may be noted that the zoning orders were made in the exercise of the statutory power conferred on the appellant board
1962 Supp 3 SCR 36
1953 New Zealand Law Reports p 366
820 Before 1942 the respondent Co was approached by the Health Department with a request that it undertakes the treatment and supply of pasteurised milk to the public  schools and it was informed that other dairy companies had declined the proposal
the company complied with the request after overcoming the difficulties of finance
The scheme was put into operation
In 1942 the respondent company put up a treatment plant and expanded its business
This expansion resulted in an annual turnover in the company s milk department going upto about A 90000 as against pound 43000 in its butter department
In March 1950 the Kia era company by letter expressed its desire that the appellant Board which had been substituted by regulation for the Executive Commission should examine the question of cream and milk supplies in the Gisborne and surrounding districts
This letter was in substance an application to the Board to review the whole question of zoning and to require the respondent company to cease the manufacture of butter
Moreover the letter set out the circumstances in a manner prejudicial to the respondent company
After various meetings and negotiations between the appellant Board companies concerned and interested parties at none of which were the contents of the Kia Ora company s letter to the Board disclosed to the respondent company no agreement was reached
The result of discussions with the Kia Ora company and detailed replies to complaints were given to the Board by the respondent company and its letter ended with a statement to the effect that it would appreciate the privilege of appearing before the full Board with the object of stating its case more fully or of answering any questions
The Board ignored this specific request
At a full meeting of the Board held on May 31 1950 the Board decided that only one butter factory should operate in the Gisborne district
On August 3 the Board by resolution decided to give notice of its intention of issuing a zonal order to operate as from October 1 1950 assigning to the Kia Ora company the cream collection area over which the two companies then operated
On August 29 the respondent company wrote to the Board protecting against its proposal and asking for recession of the Board s resolution and for an opportunity of being heard
On September 2 1950 the appellant Board in exercise of the power conferred upon it by Regulation 716 of the Dairy Factory Supply Regulations 1936 and in terms of its resolution of August 3 1950 made Zoning Order No20 which was the subject of the proceedings before the Supreme Court of New Zealand
That order was to come into force on October 1 1950
Its effect was to assign exclusively to the Kia Ora Co the area defined in Zoning Order No 30 of 1937 as that in which the two companies could jointly collect cream produced in supplying dairies situated in that area and  to prohibit the res 821 pondent dairy company after October 1 1950 from collecting or receiving any cream so produced for the purposes of manufacture into cream or butter
The respondent company and others presented a petition to the Parliament praying for relief and remedy by way of legislation either in the direction of reversing and setting aside the Board s decision in the matter of the zoning order or setting aside such decision and rehearing of the matter by an independent tribunal
The petition was heard by a select Committee of the House of Representatives which decided to make no recommendation on the petition
On August 4 the Board made an amended Zoning Order No 120A postponing until June 1 1951 the date of the coming into operation of Zoning Order No 120 already made but otherwise confirming that order
The respondent company commenced an action against the Board claiming a a declaration that Zoning Orders Nos 120 and 120A issued by the Board were invalidly passed and were of no legal effect b an order of certiorari to remove into the Supreme Court and quash the zoning orders and c an injunction restraining the Board from carrying out its intention of promulgating the zoning orders or from proceeding further or exercising any jurisdiction in accordance with the same
The action was heard by Mr Justice Hay who found that in the conduct of the inquiry instituted by the Board following the application made to it by the Kia Ora Company there was in the various respects mentioned in the judgment a departure from those principles of natural justice which were incumbent on the Board and in particular the plaintiff company was denied a hearing on the crucial issue as to whether or not a zoning order should be made
The learned Judge held that the plaintiff company was entitled to succeed in the action in respect of all the reliefs it claimed and he gave the judgment in its favour with costs against the Board
The Court of Appeal affirmed by majority the judgment of the learned trial judge
The Court held that the New Zealand Dairy Board in making its zoning order No 120 on September 1 1950 was determining a question affecting the rights of the respondent company and further that the order of the Board was that of a body that was at least primarily an administrative body and the question whether such a body was under a duty to act judicially in the course of arriving at an administrative decision was to be determined on the true construction of the authorising legislative provisions and the conditions and circumstances under which and in which the jurisdiction fell to be exercised
It held that on the facts and circumstances of the case the power exercised by the Board vitiated as the Board had failed to conform to the principles of natural justice in making the zoning order in question and hence the same is unsustainable
The decision 822 Of the Privy Council in James Edward Jeffs and Ors
vs New Zealand Dairy Production and Marketing Board and Ors
1 proceeded on the basis that the aforementioned decision of the Court of Appeal is correct
Shri Chagla contended that even if we are to hold that the power exercised by the authorities in making the impugned orders had to be exercised judicially on the facts of his case we must hold that there was no contravention of the principles of natural justice
He took us to the various representations made by the appellant
According to him the appellant had stated in its representations to the authorities all that it could have said on the subject
Therefore we should not hold that there was any contravention of the principles of natural justice
It is true as observed by this Court in Suresh Koshy George vs The University Kerala and Ors2 that the rules of natural justice are not embodied rules
The question whether the requirements of natural justice have been met by the procedure adopted in a given case must depend to a great extent on the facts and circumstances of the case in point the constitution of the tribunal and the rules under which it functions
 In this case what has happened is that both the appellant as welt as the 5th respondent were making repeated representations to the Chief Minister as well as to the Cane Commissioner
The representations made by the 5th respondent or even the substance thereof were not made available to the appellant
The proposal to split the reserved area into two or the manner in which it was proposed to be split was not made known to the appellant and his objections invited in that regard
The appellant complains that the manner in which the area had been divided had caused great prejudice to it
Its grievance may or may not be true but the fact remains that it had no opportunity to represent against the same
Hence the appellant is justified in complaining that the principles of natural justice had been contravened
In view of our finding that the proceeding which resulted in the making of the impugned orders was a quasijudicial proceeding it is unnecessary to decide whether the impugned orders could have been validly made in an administrative proceeding
We see no merit in the contention advanced on behalf of the 5th respondent that the Cane Commissioner was not competent to reserve the area in question for the appellant as its mill is in UP
The reserved area is in Bihar
The Cane Commissioner of Bihar had power to reserve that area for any sugar mill whether situated in Bihar or not
1967 AC 551
2  823 The contention of Shri Chagla that as no orders had yet been passed under cls
6c and d of the order  the appellant cannot be considered as an aggrieved party is not correct
As soon as a portion of the area reserved for the appellant was ordered to be taken away and added to the reserved area of the 5th respondent the appellant s interest was adversely affected
Therefore it is immaterial for the appellant what orders are passed under sub cls
c and d of el
6 of the order  because it can no more get any sugarcane from the area in question
What hurts the appellant is the impugned orders and not the further orders that may be passed
For the reasons mentioned above this appeal is allowed and the orders impugned quashed
The State of Bihar as well as the 5th respondent shall pay the costs of the appellant both in this
Court as well as in the High Court
GC Appeal allowed


Summary:
The Sugar Cane Control Order 1955 was promulgated by the Central Government in the exercise of its powers under the Essential Supplies Act
Under cl 6 of the Order the Central Government could reserve any area where sugarcane was grown for a factory taking into account various relevant factors
Clause 11 allowed the Central Government to delegate its power under el 6 and the Central Government by a notification dated July 16 1966 delegated the said power to the several State Governments and the Cane Commissioners of those States
The appellant was a sugar mill situated in UP near the border of Bihar State
For a long time its source of supply of sugarcane had been the neighboring area of Bihar State consisting of 208 villages
For the seasons 1966 67 and 1967 68 the 5th respondent a sugar mill situate on the Bihar side of the order sought to have the area reserved for itself but by order dated November 30 1966 the request was rejected by the State Government
In December 1966 the Cane Commissioner Bihar passed an order under el
61 of the Sugar Cane Control Order reserving the said area of 208 villages for the appellant for the seasons 1966 67 and 1967 68
The 5th resportdent made representations to the Chief Minister
Acting on directions given by the Chief Minister the Cane Commissioner Bihar passed orders on November 14 1967 whereby by a notification in the Bihar Government Gazette 121 of the aforesaid villages were reserved for the appellant and 99 villages for the 5th respondent
The appellant filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging this order of the Cane Commissioner but the petition was rejected
With certificate appeal was filed in this Court
The contentions urged on behalf of the appellant were i The orders in question though purported to have been made by the Cane Commissioner were in fact not so and were therefore invalid ii Every proceeding to modify any reservation under cl 6 is a quasi judicial proceeding
As the impugned notifications were made without affording the appellant reasonable opportunity for representing its case they were bad in law iii Even if the said proceeding was considered an administrative proceeding the impugned orders were liable to be set aside on the basis of the rule laid down by this Court in State of Orissa vs Dr Miss Binapani Dei  HELD i From the material on record the only conclusion possible was that the Chief Minister imposed his opinion on the Cane Commissioner
The power exercisable by the Cane Commissioner under cl
61 is a statutory power
He alone could have exercised that power
While exercising that power he cannot abdicate his responsibility in favour of anyone not even in favour of the State Government or the Chief Minister
It was not proper for the Chief Minister to have interfered with the 808 functions of the Cane Commissioner
In this case what had happened was that the power of the Cane Commissioner had been exercised by the Chief Minister an authority not recognised by el
6 read with cl
11 but the responsibility for making those orders was asked to be taken by the Cane Commissioner
The executive officers entrusted with statutory discretions may in some cases be obliged to take into account considerations of public policy and to some context the policy of a Minister or the Government as a whole when it is a relevant factor in weighing the policy but this will not absolve 
them from their duty to exercise their personal judgment in individual cases unless explicit statutory provision has been made for them to be given binding instructions by a superior
816 Commissioner of Police Bombay vs Gordhandas Bhanji  and State of Punjab vs Hari Kishan Sharma AI R  applied
ii As soon as the 5th respondent moved the Government for altering or modifying the reservation made in favour of the appellant a lis commenced
The dispute that arose between the appellant and the 5th respondent had to be decided on the basis of the objective criteria prescribed by el 6 of the order ie 1  the crushing capacity of the appellant mill 2 the availability of the sugarcane in the reserved area and 3 the need for the production of sugar
There could hardly be any doubt that the modification of the reservation made in favour of the appellant would have had serious repercussions on the working of the appellant s mill
It was bound to affect its interests adversely
Hence it was not possible to accept the conclusion of the High Court that the proceeding before the Cane Commissioner was not a quasi judicial proceeding
817 E H Province of Bombay vs Kusaldas section Advani  Ors  at p 725 Shivji Nathubhai vs The Union of India   Board of High School and Intermediate Education UP Allahabad vs Ghanshyam Das Gupta  Ors 1962 3 Supp
SCR 36
New Zealand Dairy Board vs Okitu Co operative Dairy Co Ltd 1953 New Zealand Law Reports
p 366 and James Edward Jeffs  Ors
vs New Zealand Dairy Production  Marketing Board  Ors 1967 ACp 551 referred tO iii In the present case both the appellant and the 5th respondent were making repeated representations to the Chief Minister as well as to the Cane Commissioner
The representations made by the 5th respondent or even the substance thereof were not made available to the appellant
The proposal to split the reserved area into two or the manner in which it was proposed to be split was not made known to the appellant and his objection invited in that regard
It had no opportunity to represent against the same
Hence the appellant was justified in complaining that the principles of natural justice had been contravened
822 D F Suresh Koshy George vs The University of Kerala  Ors   referred to
iv The appellant s interest was adversely affected by the impugned order and the contention of the respondent that as no orders had been passed under cls
6c and d of the order  the appellant could not be considered as an aggrieved party
was not correct
823 A 809 The Court did not consider it necessary to decide the questions a whether the impugned orders could have been validly made in an administrative proceeding b whether the Cane Commissioner who had the power to make the reservation in question also had the power to alter or modify that reservation