Rana ABDUL BASIT KHAN vs PROVINCE OF PUNJAB S — 2024 CLC 716 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

Fields are extracted from the reported citation and judgment text. Where a detail is not stated in the record, it is not shown.

Rana ABDUL BASIT KHAN VS PROVINCE OF PUNJAB S. 3---Constitution of Pakistan, Arts. 18 & 25---Notification No. SO (F-1) 3-46/2020(W.E) dated 19.05.2022, Cl. VII---Vires of---New flour mill(s) , rights of---Supply of wheat stock to flour mills, regulation of---Discrimination---Notification No. SO (F-1) 3-46/2020 (W.E) dated 19.05.2022 was issued purportedly ('the Notification') to ensure uninterrupted supply of wheat to flour mills and to stabilize its price in the market---Clause VII of the Notification stated that no new flour mill getting a license during the current release season shall be issued wheat from public stock for the purpose of grinding---Petitioners were flour mills owners who contended that the Cl. VII of the Notification was beyond the powers conferred under S.3 of the Punjab Foodstuffs (Control) Act, 1958 ('the Act 1958') and the restriction contained therein offended Arts. 8, 18 & 25 of the Constitution---Validity---Notification-in-question was primarily issued to ensure uninterrupted supply of wheat stock to the flour mills in order to stabilize the prices of flour in the market---Mandatory condition prescribed in this behalf was that wheat could be supplied to the approved functional flour mills having valid food-grains license---Said mandatory condition was fulfilled by the Petitioners---Grinding capacity had been duly determined by the department as per prescribed standard operating procedures---Clause IV of the policy contained in the Notification-in-question unequivocally stipulated that the Policy was subject to review after a period of one month, which indicated the need for periodic adjustment to cater the ever-changing market conditions---In said context, the only justification of imposing the impugned restriction appeared to be the convenience of the Department so that it might not have to frequently redistribute wheat quotas amongst the eligible flour mills---By doing so, the department had created two distinct classes of flour mills in terms of existing flour mills and newly established flour mills although both types of flour mills were otherwise eligible to receive the wheat quotas from public stock from the department in terms of their functionality and licenses---Thus, newly established flour mills as a class had been discriminated vis-a-vis the existing flour mills without any rational or intelligible criteria that could withstand the test of permissible classifications in terms of Art. 25 of the Constitution---Though the department had the right to regulate the release of wheat from public stock under Art. 18 of the Constitution and the provisions of the Act, 1958 but at the same time, the power to regulate was subject to law and structured discretion which in turn must be just, equitable and transparent---Impugned restriction contained in Cl. VII of the Notification prohibiting the supply of wheat to newly functional mills having valid licenses granted by the Food Department was unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious and was not based on any intelligible criteria, which did not withstand the test of structured discretion and therefore, in order to correct the legality in procedural impropriety, in exercise of judicial review, Cl. VII of the Notification was struck down and was declared as unconstitutional and unlawful---Constitutional petitions were allowed, in circumstances.

Rana ABDUL BASIT KHAN vs PROVINCE OF PUNJAB S — 2024 CLC 716 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

Case information

Judgment text as reported

Other judgments reported in 2024 CLC