LexWELCOME HOTEL AND OTHERS versus STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND OTHERS
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B c D ' Cl B WELCOME HOTEL AND OTHERS v. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND OTHERS August 22, 1983 [0. A. DllSAI AND 0, CHINNAPPA REDDY, JJ.J · Andhra PrfJlksh Catering Establishments (Fbiation <111d Display of Prices of Foo/!stuffs) Order, 1978-Validity of. Essential Commodities Act, 1955-S. 2(•) (•)-"Foodstuffs", meaning of- Whether it includes cookedfood?-Mechanics of price fixation under the Act- Extent of scope for interference by Court. The Government of Andhra Pradesh, in exercise of powers conferred under .the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 promulgated the Andhra Pradesh Catering-Establishments (Fixation and Display of Prices of Foodstuffs) Order, 19i8 fixing the maximum· prices of seven items of cooked food listed in the Schedule thereto. As the hoteliers in the State raised a hue and cry, the State Government effected an upward revision of the prices fixed by an Amendina Order dated December 11, 1980. The hoteliers were not satisfied with that and negotiations were held between them and the Minister of Civil Supplies and as a .consequence another order dated January s, 1981 w3.s issQed effecting Yet another upward revision in the maximum prices fixed and also reducing the number of scheduled items from seven to six. Ignoring this order which replaced the earlier orders, the. petitioners approached this Court questioning the validity of the earlier orders_ and obtained an ex parte stay. ' " The contentions raised were: (i) that the State Government was not competent to issue any price control measure in respect of 'cooked food' as the ~xpression 1foodstuffs' under the Act ineans raw foodstuffs only; and (ii) that the fixation of maximum prices of scheduled items under the impugned orders was arbitrary and violative of Art. 14 inasmuch as the prices were economically unprofitable as the same had been arrived at without scientifically examining tho pricea of inputs, over· head chargea, otc. Di1mi1sins the petition&, HELD : I. The expresssion 'foodstuffs' in s. 2(a) (v) of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 includes cooked food. If power to control prices of raw foodstuffs su~h as rice or wheat in conferred by s. 3, there is no justification for that power not comprehending within its fold the power to regulate prices of articles made out of such raw foodstuffs. L 678 A·CJ . (I) The Essential Commodities Act, 1955 has· the same object as \he 1'"6 fl.ct "1d ther~fore the expression 'foodstuffs' in the 1955 Act must receiv~ ' WELCoMB HO'l'EL v. AND!IRA PIW>ES!l 675 the same construction which it received under the 1946 Act. Expressions such as •food crops', 'spices' and 'condiments! indicate differ~nt spices of artieles of food but the general expression 'foodstuffs' was interpreted in the context of the 1946 Act to include spices and condiments also. It was pointed out that • althollgh expressions 'food' and 'foodstuffs' could be used in both a wide and a. narrow sense, the ex.pr~:ssion 'foodstuffs' .had been used in a wider sense in . the 1946 Act. [579 D-Gj State of Bom~ay v. Virkumlr Gulabchaad Shah, [1952] S.C.R. 877 4 referred to. (ii) The expression •food' has generally been understood to mean nutritive material absorbed or taken into the body of an organism which serves A 8 for purposes of growth, work or repair and for the maintenance of the vital C .process. What human beings ·consume is styled as food and what itnimals . consume is described as animal feed. This distinction has to be borne in mind .. The expression •foodstuffs' is made of two expressions, •food' and 'stuff'. In other words, the stuff which is used as food would be foodstuff .. Therefore, foodstuff is that which is taken into the system to maintain life and growth and to supply for waste of tissue. If raw foodstuff with a View to making it consumable by human beings undergoes a change in its condition by the D process of cooking, the derivative is· none the less foodstuff. (679 H, 680 A-BJ (iii) That the expression •foodstuff' as used in the 1955 Act comprehends cooked food is also clear from the fact that •food crop' has been separately defined in the Act. [680 DJ 2. (a) The mechanics of price fixation has necessarily to be left to the ·judgment of ihe executive and unless it is patent that there is hostile discrimi- nation against a class of operators, the processual basis ·of price fixation has to be accepted in the generality of ca~es as valid: [681 G-H] E Pr
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