128 the interveners raise the following points in support of their contention that the impugned notification is illegal and invalid (1) (a) The impugned notification is beyond the ambit of authority conferred on the Central Government under section 3 of the Act and clause 5 of the Order, and in any case it is bad as it cannot possibly subserve the purposes of the Act ensuring equitable distribution of the commodity to the consumer at a fair price; (b) The impugned notification merely fixes ex factory prices and is bad, firstly, on the ground that the Act and the Order do not authorise the Central Government to fix ex factory prices, and, secondly, on the ground that even if ex factory prices can be Axed under the Act and the Order, the impugned notification is still bad as it fails to fix prices for the ultimate consumer which must be done under the Act; (2) The impugned notification imposes an unreasonable restriction on the right to trade under Article 19 (1) (g), inasmuch as (i) it compels factories to sell sugar at a loss, (ii) it fixes the price arbitrarily, and (iii) there is no reasonable safeguard against the, abuse of power and no provision for a check by way of appeal or otherwise; (3) The impugned notification is bad inasmuch as it is discriminatory because it fixes ex factory prices only for factories in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and North Bihar and not for factories in other parts of India and there is no reasonable classification discernible on any intelligible differentia on the basis of which prices 'have been controlled in certain regions only.