Case: Sat Pal Gupta &amp; Anr Vs. State Of Haryana &amp; Anr

High Court.3. It is true that the power conferred by section 3(1) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, can be exercised by the Central Government or its delegate, only if it is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient to provide for the regulation of any `essential commodity. The only sub- clauses of section 2(a) which a re relevant for the purpose of deciding whether rice bran is an essential commodity, are sub-clauses (i) and (v). Sub-clause (i) of section 2(a) defines an `essential commodity to mean "cattle fodder, including oil-cakes and other concentrates" . By sub-clause (v), an `essential commodity means "foodstuffs including edible oil-seeds and oils". If rice bran is either cattle fodder or foodstuff, it would be an essential commodity and the Central Government or its delegate, the St ate Government, would have the power to regulate its production, supply and distribution, and trade and commerce therein.Coming first to the question argued by Shri Maheshwari as to whether rice bran is a `foodstuff, it is well known that rice b ran is commonly used as poultry feed and not uncommonly as cattle feed. This is undisputed. Rice bran is a bye-product of the husking and milling process of paddy and consists of the layer which lies between the husk and the kernel. The affidavit of Shri T.K. Banerji, Director, Food and Supplies, Haryana which was filed in the High Court shows that rice bran is used in place of wheat bran or wheat middlings in livestock feeding. To the same effect is the affidavit filed in this Court by Shri H.D. Bansal, Director, Food and Supplies, Haryana. If this is the true position, we are unable to appreciate that rice bran cannot be considered to be a foodstuff. Any stuff which is commonly used as food by the generality of living beings is foodstuff: it is not legitimate to restrict the meaning of that word to things which are used as food by human beings. The animal kingdom is not any the less important in the cosmic scheme than the human empire and it is a distortion to say that it is a matter of little or no concern to the State whether the cattle and the poultry get their due ration of the means of their subsistence. Cattle feed and poultry feed are food to the cattle and the poultry, and therefore they are foodstuffs.4. The word `foodstuffs which occurs in clause (v) of Section 2(a) is not defined in the Act and therefore it must receive its ordinary and natural meaning, that is to say, a meaning which takes account of and accords with the day-to- day affairs of life. Cattle and poultry are living components of the natural environment and there is no reason to exclude that which they eat or feed upon, from the meaning of the word `foodstuffs. If, what the human beings eat is food, so is what the other living beings eat. `Cattle fodder is expressly brought within the compass of essential commodities by clause (i) of section 2(a). It would be illogical if, in that context, rice bran is excluded from the purview of essential commodities on the ground that it is eaten by the poultry and not by Homo Sapiens.By `foodstuffs is meant food of any kind. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Third Edition) says that `food is "what one takes into the system to maintain life and growth". According to Websters Third New International Dictionary, `food means "material consisting of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and supplementary substances, that is taken or absorbed into the body of an organism in order to sustain growth, repair, and all vital processes and to furnish energy for all activity of the organism; something that nourishes or develops or sustains". These dictionary meanings of the word "food" are not restricted to what is eaten by human beings for nourishment and sustenance. According to them, what one takes into the system to maintain life and growth or what is taken into the body of an organism in order to sustain growth is food.5. We are therefore of the opinion that rice bran being a foodstuff within the meaning of section 2(a)(v) of the Act, it is an essential commodity and therefore, the power conferred by section 3 can be used to regulate its production, sale or supply.6. The affidavits filed on behalf of the State of Haryana have attempted to make out a case that rice bran is also used for human consumption. A research bulletin brought out by the Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, is cited therein as showing that the oil extracted from rice bran can be used in a variety of ways in the edible field as, for example, for fat-frying, cooking and in the preparation of salads and sauces, and that in Japan, it has been used for edible purposes for many years. This claim may or may not be true but we would like to have better evidence to uphold it. It may be possible, in course of time, to process rice bran by the use of advanced food technology in order to make it a common article of food for human consumption.Our attention is drawn by Shri Bhagat, who appears on behalf of the Haryana Government, to a decision of this Court in M/s Sachdeva &Sons &Ors v. State of Punjab &Ors (Civil Appeal No. 8 17 of 1980 decided on May 7, 1980) in which it was held that rice bran is "cattle fodder" within the meaning of section 2(a)(i) of the Act. We need not go into that question since we are of the view that rice bran, being a foodstuff, is an essential commodity.7. The decisions in The State of Bombay v. Virkumar Gulabchand Shah(1) and Shriniwas Pannalal Chockani v. The Crown(2) which were cited by Shri Maheshwari and Shri Bhagat respectively do not bear upon the question in issue befor e us and need not, therefore, be discussed.8.

Court's decision (1 = petition accepted / positive for appellant, 0 = rejected / negative): 0

Reasoning from the judgment:
0[ds]It is true that the power conferred by section 3(1) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, can be exercised by the Central Government or its delegate, only if it is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient to provide for the regulation of any `essential commodity. The only sub- clauses of section 2(a) which a re relevant for the purpose of decidingrice bran isy, are sub-clauses (i) and (v). Sub-clause (i) of section 2(a) defines an `essential commodity to mean "cattle fodder, including oil-cakes and other concentrates" . By sub-clause (v), an `essential commodity means "foodstuffs including edible oil-seeds and oils". Ifrice bran iseither cattle fodder or foodstuff, it would be an essential commodity and the Central Government or its delegate, the St ate Government, would have the power to regulate its production, supply and distribution, and trade and commerce therein.Coming first to the question argued by Shri Maheshwari as to whetherrice bran is`foodstuff, it is well known that rice b ran is commonly used as poultry feed and not uncommonly as cattle feed. This is undisputed. Rice bran is a bye-product of the husking and milling process of paddy and consists of the layer which lies between the husk and the kernel. The affidavit of Shri T.K. Banerji, Director, Food and Supplies, Haryana which was filed in the High Court shows thatrice bran isused in place of wheat bran or wheat middlings in livestock feeding. To the same effect is the affidavit filed in this Court by Shri H.D. Bansal, Director, Food and Supplies, Haryana. If this is the true position, we are unable to appreciate that rice bran cannot be considered to be a foodstuff. Any stuff which is commonly used as food by the generality of living beings is foodstuff: it is not legitimate to restrict the meaning of that word to things which are used as food by human beings. The animal kingdom is not any the less important in the cosmic scheme than the human empire and it is a distortion to say that it is a matter of little or no concern to the State whetherthe cattle and the poultry get their due ration of the means of their subsistence.Cattle feed and poultry feed are food to the cattle and the poultry, and therefore they areare therefore of the opinion that rice bran being a foodstuff within the meaning of section 2(a)(v) of the Act, it is an essential commodity and therefore, the power conferred by section 3 can be used to regulate its production, sale oraffidavits filed on behalf of the State of Haryana have attempted to make out a case thatrice bran isused for human consumption. A research bulletin brought out by the Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, is cited therein as showing that the oil extracted from rice bran can be used in a variety of ways in the edible field as, for example, for fat-frying, cooking and in the preparation of salads and sauces, and that in Japan, it has been used for edible purposes for many years. This claim may or may not be true but we would like to have better evidence to uphold it. It may be possible, in course of time, to process rice bran by the use of advanced food technology in order to make it a common article of food for human consumption.Our attention is drawn by Shri Bhagat, who appears on behalf of the Haryana Government, to a decision of this Court in M/s Sachdeva &Sons &Ors v. State of Punjab &Ors (Civil Appeal No. 8 17 of 1980 decided on May 7, 1980) in which it was held thatrice bran is"cattle fodder" within the meaning of section 2(a)(i) of the Act. We need not go into that question since we are of the view that rice bran, being a foodstuff, is an essentialdecisions in The State of Bombay v. Virkumar Gulabchand Shah(1) and Shriniwas Pannalal Chockani v. The Crown(2) which were cited by Shri Maheshwari and Shri Bhagat respectively do not bear upon the question in issue befor e us and need not, therefore, be discussed.