Holding

Rice bran is a "foodstuff" and therefore an essential commodity, so the State may regulate its sale under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act.

Summary

The petitioners, dealers in rice and owners of a rice mill, challenged Clause 3 of the Haryana Rice Bran (Distribution and Price) Control Order, 1967, which required a permit for the sale of rice bran. They argued that rice bran is not an "essential commodity" under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and therefore the State could not regulate its sale under Section 3 of the Act. The Supreme Court examined the definition of "essential commodity" in Section 2(a), particularly sub‑clauses (i) (cattle fodder) and (v) (foodstuffs). It held that "foodstuffs" means any food of any kind, not limited to human consumption, and that rice bran, being commonly used as poultry and cattle feed, qualifies as a foodstuff and also as cattle fodder. Consequently, rice bran is an essential commodity, and the State’s power under Section 3 to regulate its production, sale, and supply is valid. The appeal was dismissed.

Issues considered

Whether rice bran falls within the definition of "essential commodity" under Section 2(a)(i) or Section 2(a)(v) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
Whether the State can exercise the power conferred by Section 3 of the Act to regulate the sale of rice bran.

Legislation cited

Essential Commodities Act, 1955s. 2(a)(i), s. 2(a)(v), s. 3, s. 5

Subjects

Essential commoditiesFoodstuff definitionRice branSection 3 regulationCattle fodderEssential Commodities ActPermit requirementSupreme Court

Judgment

•
196

A SAT PAL GUPTA & ANR.

v.

STATE OF HARYANA & ANR.

B February s; 1982
(Y.V. CHANDRACHUD, C.J. AND A.D.KOSHAL, J.]

Essential Commodities Act, 1955-"Foodstuff"-Meaning of-Rice bran used
to feed poultry a11d cattle-Whelher essential commodity within the mea11ing of the
c Act.

Sub-clause (i) of section 2(a) of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 defines
an ' 1essential commodity" to mean "cattle fodder including oilcakes and other
coilcentrates" and by sub--clause (v) an "essential commodity" me:lns "food~
stuffs, including edible oih1eeds and oils." Clause 3 of the Haryana Rice Bran
(Distribution and Price) Control Order 1967 provides that no dealer or owner of
a ri!=C mill shall sen or offer to sell or supply rice bran save against a permit
D granted by certain officers of the State Government.

By a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, the appellants
impugned the validity of clause 3 of the Control Order on the ground that rice
bran is not an essential commodity and that for this reason power under section
3 could not be exercised for the purpose of regulating its sale or supply. The
High Court rejected the appellants' writ petition.
E
Dismissing the appeal,

HELD : Rice bran being a "foodstuff" wil~in the meaning of section 2(a) ~
(v) of the Act, it is an essential coinmodity and therefore, the-power conferred by
section 3 can be used to regulate its production, sale or supply. [199 Fl

F The term "foodstuffs" means food of any kind. The dictionar:Y meanings
of "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. [199 C-E]
-r
Rice bran, which is a bye-product of the husking and milling process of
G paddy, consists of the layer that lies between husk and the kernel. It is a food
stuffWhicli is commonly used as poultry and cattle feed. Any stuff which
is commonly used as food by the generality of living beings is food-
stuff ; it is not legitimate to restrict its ineaning to things used as food by human
heinfis. The animal kingdom is not any the Jess important in the cosmic scheme
tban the human empire and it is a distortion to say that it is a matter of little or
H no concern to the State whether the cattle and the ·poultiy get their due ration
of the means of their subsistence. Cattle feed and poultry feed are feed to the
cattle and the poultry and therefore they are foodstuffs. (198 E-H]
SA'tPAL v. HARYANA (Chandrachud, C.J.) 191
Cattle and poultry are living cOlnl)Onents of the natural environment and A
thero 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 c;ommodities by section 2(a) (i). It would be illogical ir', in that con-
text, rice bran is excluded from the purview of essential commodities on the
ground that it is eaten by the poultry and not by Homo Sapitns. (199 B-C]
B
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1099(N) of
1972.

Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated
the 12th October, 1971 of the Punjab aqd Haryana High Court in
Civil Writ No. 3400 of 1971. c
B.P..Maheshwari arid Suresh Sethi for the Petitioner.

K.G. Bhagat and M.N. Shroff for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by D

CHANDRACHUD, C.J. The appellants, in this appeal by special
leave, are dealers in rice, paddy and rice ~Jan. They also have an
associate rice milling and husking plant which is run under the name
and style of Jagdamba Rice Mills, Traori.
E
Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 10 -of 1955,
empowers the Central Government, under the circumstances stated
in that section, to issue notified orders providing for the regulation
of production, supply and distribution of any essential commodity,
Under Section 5, the Central Governmcint can delegate its powers F
to a State Govetnment or an officer or authority subordinate to it.
In exercise of that power, the Central Government issued a noti-
fication on July 24, 1967 delegating to the State Governments the
power conferred upon· it by Section 3 of the Act. In exercise of
such del'egated power, Respondent I, the State of Haryana, promul-
gated the Haryana Rice Bran (Distribution and Price) Control G
Order, 1967. Clause 3 of the said Order provides that no dealer
or owner of a rice mill shall sell - or offer to sell or supply rice bran
save against a permit granted by the Director, Food and Supplies,
or the District )\1agistrate or any othe~ officer authorised by the
Director in that behalf.• The appellants filed a. writ petition under H
·Article 226 of the Constitution · in the High Court of Punjab and
Haryana, challen$ing clause 3 of the aforesaid Control Order, on the
198 SUPllBMB COUllT llBPOllTS (19821 3 s.c.A.

A ground that rice bran is not an essential commodity and therefore,
the power conferred by section 3 of the Act cannot be exercised for
the purpose of regulating its sale or supply. This contention has been
negatived by the High Court.

It is true that the power conferred by section 3( I) of the
B 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 'essen·
tial commodity'. The only sub-clauses of section 2(a) which are
relevant for the purpose of deciding whether rice bran is an essen-
tial commodity, are sub-clauses (i) and (v). Sub-clause (i) of sec-
c. tion 2(a) defines an 'essential commodity' to mean "cattle fodder,
including oilcakes and other .concentrates". By sub·clause (v), an
'essential commodity' means "foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds
and oi\s". If rice bran is either cattle fodder or foodstuff, it would
be an essential commodity and the Central Government or its dele- .
gate, the State Government, would have the power to regulate its
D production, supply and distribution, and trade and commerce
therein. ;

'
Coming first to the question argued by Shri Mabeshwari as to
whether rice bran is a 'foodstuff', it is well known that rice bran is
commonly used as poultry feed and not uncommonly as cattle feed.
E 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, Haryaoa 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.
F filed in this Court by Shri H.D. Bansal, Director, Food and
Supplies, Haryana. If this is the ·true position, we are unable to
~preciate that rice bran cannot be considered to be a foodstuff. -l--
/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 a.re used as food by human beings. The
G
animal kingdom is not any the less important in the cosmic scheme
r than the human empire and it is a distortion to say that it is a
,I 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
H feed and poultry (eed are food to the ca~tle and the poultry, and
)
therefore they are foodstuffs.
SAtPAL \>. ltARYANA (Chandrachud, t.J.) 199

The word 'foodstuffs' which occurs in clause (v) of Section A
2(a) is not defined in the Act and therefore it mu>t receive its ordi-
nary 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 componenis 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 B
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 groimd that it is eaten by the poultty and not by Homo Sapiens.
·c
By 'foodstuffs' is meant food of any kiud. The Shorter Oxford
English Dictionary (Third Edition) says that 'food' is "what one
takes into the system to maintain life and growth". According to
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 'food' means "mate-
rial consisting of carbohydrates, fats, proteins alld supplementary
substances, that is taken or absorbed ·into the body of an organism 0
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 mean-
ings 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 E
is taken into the body of an organism in order to .sustain growth
is food.

----r-- ·We are therefore of the op1mon that rice bran being a food-
stuff within the meaning of section 2(a)(v) of the Act, it is an essen-
tial commodity and therefore, the power conferred by section 3 can
be used to regulate its production, sale or supply.
F

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
G
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 H
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

I
200 SUPRBMB COURT RBPORTS [1982! 3 s.c.il.

A 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
B Sachdeva & Sons & Ors v. State of Punjab & Ors (Civil Appeal No.
817 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.

C The decisions in The State of Bombay v. Virkumar Gulabchand
Shah(') and Shriniwas Pannalal Chockani v. The Crown(') which
were cited by Shri Maheshwari and Shri Bhagat respectively do not
bear upon the question in issue before us and need not, therefore,
be discussed.

D For these reasons we dismiss the appeal, but without costs.

P.B.R. Appeal dismissed.

··-

/-
m [19521 2 s,c.R. 871
(2) A.I.R. (38) 1951 Nagpur 226