SRI VENKATA SEETARAMANJANEYA RICE AND OIL MILLS & Ors. v. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH ETC

Sri Venkata K. Srinivasamurthy and Naunit Lal. for the appellants (in C. As. Nos. 591, 582, 597, and 689 /62 and 140, 267 Seetaramanjaneya and 268 / 63). Riu and OilMiU. and Others. K. Jayaram and R. Thiagarajan, for the appellants (in State of'.4ndhra C.A. Nos. 139, 159, 330, 334, 337, 340, 342, 343, 347 and PradeBh etc. 352/ 63). K. R. Chaudhuri, for the appellants (in C.A. Nos. 15 and 389 of 63). A. Vedavalli and A. V. Rangam, for the appellant (in C. As. Nos. 746, and 748 of 63). D. Narsaraju, T. Anantha Babu, M. V. Goswami and B. R. G. K. Achar, for the respondents (in C. As. Nos. 435- 437, 724, 725 and 727 / 62). D. Narsaraju, T. Anantha Babu, Yogcshwar Prasad and B. R. G. K. Achar, for the respondents (in C. As. Nos. 429- 434, 438, 439 and 694/62 and 269 of 63). D. Narsaraju, T. Anantha Babu, M. S. K. Sastri and B. R. G. K. Achar, for the respondents (in C.A. Nos. 591, 597 and 689/62 and 140, 267 and 268/63) and respondent No. 1 (in C.A. No. 592/62). J. V. K. Sarma and T. Satyanarayana, for respondent No. 2 (in C.A. No. 592/62). D. Narsaraju, T. Anantha Babu, R. Gopalakrishnan and B. R. G. K. Achar, for the respondents (in C. As. Nos. 15, 139, 331, 334, 337, 340, 342, 343, 347, 352, 159, 389 and 746-748/63). March 25, 1964. The judgment of the Court was de livered by Qajendreyadkar, C.J. two notified orders GAJENDRAGADKAR, C. J.-The principal question of law which arises in this group of 37 civil appeals relates to the construction of section 3 of the Madras Essential Articles ControI and Requisitioning (Temporary Powers) Act, 1949 (No. 29 of 1949) (hereinafter called 'the Act'). The dispute which has given rise to these appeals centres round the vali respon dity of dent, State of Andhra Pradesh on the 28th January, 1955, and 30th January, 1955 respectively, and it is the contention of the appellants that the said notified orders are outside the purview of s. 3. The appellants in all these appeals are sup plied electricity by the respondent for many years past, and several individual agreements have been passed between them and the respondent during the period 1946 to 1952 prescribing the terms and conditions on which the said supply would be 'made to them. One of these terms stipulated the rate at which the supply of electricity had to be charged issued by , I /7 S.C.R. SUPREl\IE COURT REPORTS 459 against the consumers. The impugned orders have purported to increase this rate, and the appellants contend that the respondent had no authority to change this important term s,,taramanjaneya of the contract to their pre1· udice by taking recourse to Rfre and Oil Mills s. 3(1) and issuing notified orders in that behalf. That, in substance, is the nature of the controversy between the parties Stare 01 AndAra before us. Pradc41 etC. and Otliers v. Sri Venkara 1964 G'ajendragadCar ,C.J ~ the overall unit rates It appears that the Government of Madras, and subse quently, its successor, the respondent, had a single power grid system for the whole State comprising Tungabhadra and Machkund Hydro Electric System and the Thermal System of Nellore. The entire energy was integrated into one power system. The Government of Madras entered into agreements with several consumers in the State, including the appellants,. for the supply of energy in bulk at the specified rates which were called tariffs, for the years 1951 and 1952. These agree ments were to be in operation for ten years. It is common ground that these agreements did not contain any provision authorising the Government to increase the rates during their operation. The charges fixed were calculated at graded re gressive rates according to increasing slabs of consumption units, and including the demand charge were not to exceed 66 annas without prejudice to the monthly minimum payment and the guaranteed consumption. The Government of Andhra then issued the two impugned orders relating to Machkund and Nellore, and Tungabhadra and Chittoore District areas respectively, enhancing the agreed ra.tes. These enhanced rates were specified in Sche dules A and B attached to the said orders. According to these orders, these increased tariffs were to take effect from the date on which meter readings were to be taken in the month of February, 1955 and were to operate for the future., The increase in the rates effected by these orders was thus to operate not retrospectively, but prospectively. The impugned orders indicate that the main reason which inspired the said orders was the knowledge that the existing electricity tariffs which were formulated nearly 15 years before. had become complete ly uneconomic; the price level of all material had enormously increased; and that in evitably meant continuously growing loss to the Government. The Accountant-General made queries in respect of th~ recur ring loss and drew pointed attention of the State Government to the deficits in the working of the Power System. Accord ingly, the question of revision of tariffs was considered in the State of Madras, but was not decided because reorganisation of the States was then in contemplation. After the respondent State was born, its Chief Engineer sumbitted proposals for the charges of labour and 460 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1964] 1964 Sri Venkata revii:ions of tariffs in all the areas covered by the relevant schemes. That is how the impugned notified orders came to - - 8eetaramani_antya be ii:sued by the respondent. Rsce and Oil Mills and Other , v. The appellants were naturally aggrieyed by these orders, because they added to their liability to pay the rates for the 8 1f.!df.f':f:'.'a, supply of electricity by the respondent to them. Accordingly, a large number of consumers moved the Andhra Pradesh Gajendraqadkar,0.J.High Court under Art. 226 of the Constitution, and challeng ed the validity of the two impugned orders. The learned sing:le Judge who heard these writ petitions upheld the appel lants' plea and came to the conclusion that the impugned orders were not justified by the authority conferred on the . respondent by s. 3 of the Act, and were unauthorised, illegal and inoperative. In the result, the writ petition filed by rnme of the appellants before us were allowed and an appropriate order was issued against the respondent restraining it from enforcing the revised tariff rates. These decisions were challenged by the· respondent by preferring several Letters Patent Appeals. The Division Bench which heard these Letters Patent Appeals took a different view; it held that on its fair and reasonable con struction, s. 3 did confer authority on the respondent issue the impugned orders, and so, the challenge made to the validity of the said orders could not be sustained. That is why the Letters Patent Appeals preferred by the respon dent were allowed and the writ petitions filed by the appel lants were dismissed. It is against these orders that the appel lants have come to this Court with a certificate issued by the said High Court. After the Division Bench had pronounced its decision on this point, several other writ petitions were filed by other consumers, and naturally the single Judge who heard them followed the decision of the Division Bench and dismissed the said writ petitions. The consumers who were aggrieved by the decision of the learned single Judge were then allow ed to come to this Court directly by special leave, because the points which they wanted to raise were exactly the same as were raised by the other consumers who had come to this Court against the principal decision of the Division Bench. The present group of appeaJs thus consists of matters which have been decided by a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, as well as those which have been de cided by a learned single Judge, and they all raise the- same common question about the construction of s. 3 of the Act, and the validity of the impugned notified orders. Before addressing ourselves to the question of constru in:~ s. 3, it is necessary to recapitulate the legislative history of the Act. It will be recalled that during the Second World 7 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 461 v. 1961 s.; Venkata War, the Government of India passed the Defence of India Act (No. 35 of 1939) on the 29th of September, 1939. By virtue of the powers conferred on the Central Government s.-a-"4•""!f<J by s. 2 of the said Act, several Rules came to be framed by R""' ~:Z ~7,!;" Central Government known as the Defence of India Rules. Amongst these Rules was Rule 81(2) which clothed the sia;,•:J..1M.Ara Central Government with power to issue orders which may '_ e1e. appear to the Central Government to be necessary or ex- Gajendraga<ik&r,O.J. pedient for securing "the defence of British India, or the efficient prosecution of the war, or for maintaining supplies and services essential to the life of the community". These Rules were in operation during the continuance of the war. After the war came to an end, it was realised that the eco- nomic situation in the country continued to be serious, and for the proper regulation of economic affairs, it was thought necessary to continue the orders issued under the Defence of India Rule 81(2), because shortage of supply of essential articles was very much in evidence then. The purpose of con- tinuing the orders was to ensure the supply of essential arti- cles to the community at large at reasonable prices and to secure their equitable distribution. In due course, the Defence of India Act came to an end in 1946, but the Central Legis- lature thought it necessary to pass another Act to take its place and the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946 (No. 24 of 1946). On the same lines, the Madras Legislature passed an Act in 1946 (No. 14 of 1946). Later, it was replaced by Act No. 29 of 1949 with which we are concerned in the present appeals. After the respon- dent State was created under the Scheme of Reorganisation of States, it passed Act No. 1 of 1955 and this Act received the assent of the President on the 21st of January, 1955. By this Act, the Legislature of the respondent State virtually adopted the Madras Act. As a result, the impugned orders are, in substance, referable to s. 3 of the Madras Act. that was Before we part with this topic, it may be mentioned that when the Madras Act was passed, its Schedule gave a list of the essential articles as defined by s. 2(a) and these articles were 12 in number. When the Andhra Legislature passed Act No. 1 of 1955 and adopted the Schedule of essen tial articles for its purpose, the number of these articles was reduced to two; they are charcoal and electrical energy. The Andhra Act was originally intended to be in operation until the 25th January, 1956, but it was later continued from time to time. It is common ground that when the impugned_ orders were passed, section 3 of he_ Act was in operation and the present appeals have been argued on the basis that the said section is constitutionally. valid, so that the main point which calls for our decision is the construction of the said section. 462 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1964], · · h Prodesh 1964 Bri v enkata at we must so cons and Olhers v. Stale of Andhra Mr. Setalvad for the appellants contends that in con- strui:1g s. 3, we ought not to concentrate on the words used seetaramanjaneya in s. 3 in isolation, but must look at the said section along , Bi<• and Oil Mills with the other provisions of the Act. The rule of harmonious e a constructton, e urges, requires the provisions of the Act as to avoid any conflict or repug etc. nancy between them. So construed, section 3, according to Gajend"'!ladkar, O.J. him, cannot be said to confer power on the respondent to enha nee the tariff rate ohargeable against the appellants in respect of the supply of energy made by the respondent to them. The whole scheme of the Act indicates clearly that the power to regulate the supply of an essential article which the State Government has to be has been conferred on transaction between citizens and applied citiz•!ns and cannot be applied to an essential article which the State itself supplies. It would be odd, he suggests, if the State Government is given the power to issue a noti fied order regulating the rates at which it should supply energy which it itself produces. Therefore, the dealings by the State Government in the matter of supply of energy to the wnsumers should be deemed to be outside the provisions of s. 3, and that would make the impugned orders invalid. in regard The question as to whether the State Government would be bound by the provisions· of legislative enactments passed by the State Legislature has sometimes led to difference in - judicial opinion; but the decision of this Court in the Director of Rationing and Distribution v. The Corporation of Cal cutt.2 and Ors.(') must be taken to have settled this question. The effect of the majority decision rendered in that case is the validity of the rule of interpretation of to :recognise statutes enunciated by the Privy Council in Province of Bombay v. Municipal Corporation of the City of Bombay(') and that rule is that the State is not bound by a statute un-. less it is so provided in express terms or by necessary impli cation. In applying this rule, it is obviously necessary that the Court must attempt to ascertain the intention of the the relevant provisions of Legislature by considernig all the statute together and not concentrating its attention on a particular provision which may be in dispute between the par1 ies. If, after reatling all the relevant provisions of the sta~Jte, the Court is' satisfied that by necessary implication the obligation imposed by the statute should be enforced aga:inst the State, that conclusion must be adopted. If there are express terms to that effect, there is, of course, no diffi culty. In dealing with this vexed question, sometimes it is nec•!ssary also to enquire whether the conclusion that the State is not bound by the specific provision of a given statute, (') [1961] 1 S.C.R 158. (') 73 I.A. 271. 7S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 463 would hamper the working of the statute, or would lead to the anomalous position that the statute may lose its effi- cacy, and if the answer to either of these two questions Se.eJar•".;""<i•nt~a . d' d b h uld Rice""" O•l Milla . y m 1cates t at be enforced against the Stat~, the Court would be inclined to infer by necessary implication that the State, in fact, is bound by the statute. and au.era •· Stj,~:J,1,.W:/:.• . e o 1galion impose l964 Sri Venkata e statute s o bl' h to Gajendrayiulkar,O.J. Where, however, the question is .not so much as whether the State is bound by the statute, but whether it can claim the benefit of the provision of a statute, the same rule of construction may have to be applied. Where the statute may be for the public good, and by claiming the bene- fit conferred on it by its provisions the State may allege that it is serving the public good, it would still be necessary to ascertain whether the intention of the legislature was to make the relevant provisions applicable to the State. This position is also established by the decision of the Privy Council in Province of Bombay(') and it still continues to be a law in this country. Incidentally, we may add that where the Crown seeks to take advantage of a statute and urges that though· it is not bound by the statute, it is at liberty to take advantage of it, English Law does not easily entertain such a plea, though there are observations made in some judicial .pronounce- . ments to the contrary. As Halsbury points out, "it has been said that, unless it is expressly or impliedly prohibited from doing so, the Crown may take advantage of a statute not withstanding that it is not bound thereby." Having made this statement, Halsbury has added. a note of caution by saying that "there is only slender authority for this rule, and since both the rule and such authority as does exisf have also been doubted, the rule cannot, perhaps, be regarded as settled law(')". To the same effect is the comment made by Maxwell when he quotes with approval the view expressed by Sir John Simon that the decisions which recognise the right of the Crown to take advantage of a statutory provision "start with a passage in an unsuccessful argument of a law officer which was not even relevant to the case before the court, but which has been taken out by a text-writer and repeated for centuries until it was believed that it must have some foundation(')". Therefore, in construing s. 3 of the Act we cannot per- mit the respondent to rely upon the artificial rule that since (') 73 I.A. 271. I') Halsbury's Laws of England, Vol. 36, p. 432, para 654. ~') Maxwell on Interpretation of Statutes, 11th Ed. p. 136 464 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1964] 1964 8,.; Venkaw the respondent claims a benefit under s. 3, that construc- tion should be adopted which supports such a claim. Thus,. Be<tara~nja~ya the position is that when we construe s. 3, we must adopt R••0•"ffWJ..M•11• the usual rule of construction; we must not read s. 3 in iso- lation, but must consider it in its proper setting and must Swee of Andhra have due regard for the other provisions pf the Act, and •• v. "· Praiuhete. Gajendragadl:al', O.J. its general scheme and purpose. Reverting then to Mr. Setalvad 's main argument, it may be conceded that when the Act was passed in 1949, mainly · and primarily the power conferred by s. 3 on the State Government must have been intended to regulate the supply of essential articles made by one citizen to another. The Stale had not then entered commercial activities on a large scale and when s. 3(1) contemplated notified orders issued the purpose of securing equitable distribution and availability at fair prices of essential articles, the legislature could not have in its mind supply of essential articles made by the State itself. That is one point in favour of Mr. Setal vad's construction. If we examine the scheme of the Act, it may also have to be conceded that some of the provisions may not be applicable to the State. Take, for instance, the provision of s. 4 which relate to the powers of requisition ing and acquisition of properties, and the subsequent two sections that deal with payment of compensation and release from requisition respectively; these provisions may not be applicable to the State. Take, again, the control of agricul ture which is contemplated by s. 7; it would not be appli cable to the State. Section 12 which deals with penalties may also be inapplicable to the State, and so, would s. 13 be inapplicable, because it deals with abetment and assist am;e of contravention 9f the provisions of the Act. There fore, the general scheme of the Act and some of its provi sions seem to suggest that the State may not have been with in the contemplation of the Act. But it is obvious that the rule of harmonious constrµc ticn on which Mr. Setalvad has solely rested his case, can be invoked successful1y by him only if the words used in s. 3 are capable· of the construction which he suggests. If the said words are capable of two constructions one of which supports the appellants' case and the other that of the res pondent, it would be legitimate to adopt the first construc tion. because it has the merit of harmonising the provisions of s. 3 with the general scheme and purpose of the Act. On the other hand, if the words used in s. 3(1) are not reason ably capable of the construction for which the appellants contend, then it would be unreasonable and illegitimate for the Court to limit the scope of those words arbitrarily solely the purpose of establishing harmony between • I 7 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 465 assumed object and the scheme of the is necessary tq, examine the words used fully. Let us first read s. 3(1) : - Act. Therefore, it in s. 3 very care- 1964 Sri Ve1'kala Seetaramanjaneya Rice and Oil Muz.t. and Others. state ofAtUlhra Pradeahetc. "The State Government so far as it appears to them to be necessary or expedient for maintaining, in- creasing or securing supplies of essential articles or for arranging fQr their equitable distribution Ga.j d --;;dk O.J and availability at fair prices may, by notified • order, provide for regulating or prohibiting the supply, distribution and transport of essential aticles arid trade and commerce therein''. en rag "'• Sub-section (2) provides that without prejudice to the gene rality of the. powers conferred by sub-section (i), an order made thereunder may provide for objects specified in clauses (a) to (k). The majority of these objects may not be appli cable to the State, while, conceivably, some may be appli cable to it. Section 3(1) is obviously intended to secure supplies cf essential articles and to arrange for their equitable distribu tion and availability at fair prices. If electrical energy is one of the essential articles mentioned the Schedule, there can be no difficulty in holding that a notified order can be issued under s. 3(1) for regulating the supply of the said energy and making it available at a fair price. Indeed: it is not disputed and cannot be disputed that if electrical energy is produced by a private licensee and is then supplied to the consumers, such a supply would fall within the mis chief of s. 3(1), and the terms on which it can and should be made to the consumers can be regulated by a notified order. There can also be no serious dispute that the terms of a con tract entered into between a private supplier of electrical energy and the consumer could be modified by a notified order. Section 3(i) undoubtedly confers power on the State Government to vary ang modify contractual terms in respect of the supply or distribution of essential articles. If that be so, on a plain reading of s. 3(1) it seems very difficult to accept the argument that the supply of electrical energy which is included in s. 3'(1) if it is made by a private producer should go outside the said section as soon as it is produced by the. State Government. The emphasis .is not on who pro duces and supplies, but on the continuance of the equitable distribution and supply of essential articles at fair prices. If the object which s. 3(1) has in mind is such equitable dis tribuiton and availability at fair prices of essential articles, then that object would still continue to attract the provisions of s. 3(1) even though the essential article may be produced by the State and may be supplied by it to the consumers. \ 466 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1964) 1964 Sri Venkata the ground . . andOthers. v. Seelarama~:iane.ya ficially on -~~-1 The words used in s. 3(1) are so clear, unambiguous and wi~e that it would be unreasonable to limit their scope arti that by giving effect to the wide anguage of the sechon, we might reach a result which 1s not completely harmonious or consistent with the assumed :>ta~rad"f.h j,~dhra object and purpose of the Act. Indeed, as we have just indi- cated, if the purpose of the Act is to secure the supply of ~ajendrOIJ•dkar,O.J. essential articles at fair prices, it would be irrelevant as to who makes the supply; what is relevant is to regulate the sup:ply at a fair price. Therefore, we are not prepared to accede to Mr. Setalvad's argument that s. 3(1) does not con fer on the respondent the power to modify the terms of agreements between it and the appellants. .. - Mr. Setalvad, no doubt, contended that in construing s. 3(1), we may have regard to the fact that most of the clauses under s. 3(2) would be inapplicable to the respondent State, and so, he virtually suggests that even though the words in s. 3(1) may be wide, their width should be control led by the limited scope of the clauses prescribed by sub section (2). We are not prepared to accept this argument. After the decision of the Privy Council in King Emperor v. Silinath Banerjee('), it is well-settled that the function of a clause like clause (2) of s. 3 merely illustrative (vide also. Santosh Kumar Jain v. The State(')). In other words, the proper approach to adopt in construing clau·ses (]) and (2) of s. 3 is to assume that whatever is included in clause (2) is also included in clause (!). That is not to say that if the words of clause (!) are wide enough to include cases not in cluded in clause (2), they must, for that reason. receive a narrower construction. Therefore, we must ultimately go back to clause (!) to decide whether the supply of electrical energy made by the respondent to the appellants can be regulated by a notified order issued under it or not, and the answer to that question must, in our opinion, be in the affir mative. In this connection, it may be pertinent to refer to s. 3(2}(b) which provides for controlling the prices at which any essential article may be bought or sold. It is not easy to see why this clause cannot take in articles which may be purchased or sold by the State. The clause is so worded that the transactions of sale and purchase of all essential articles would be included in it. It is true that where the State wants to sell its essential articles, it may be able to regulate the prices and control them by means of an executive order; ·but that is not relevant and !llaterial in construing the effect (') 72 I.A. 241 at p. 248. (') 1951 S.C.R. 303. 7 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 467 of the words; if the words take within their sweep. essential articles sold by the State, there is no reason why 1t should not be competent to the State to issue a notified order con- •1::;•::-di~Af;I\. trolling the prices in that behalf. Sri Venkata and Others 1961 In regard to the purchase of essential articles by the State of. Andhra PradVJh eic. State, the position is still clearer. If the State wants to pur- chase essential articles. power to regulate th~ pnces of such Gajewlragadkar,C.J. articles would seem to be clearly mcluded m s. 3(2)(b). In- deed, during the course of his arguments, Mr. Setalvad did 'he not seriously dispute this position. Therefore, when State wants to purchase essential articles, it can regulate the price in that behalf by means of a notified order issued under s. 3(1) and that shows that in the cases of both sale and purchase of essential articles by the State, s. 3(2)(b) read with s. 3(1) would clothe the State with the power to issue the relevant notified order. Then, it was faintly argued qy Mr. Setalvad that the power to regulate conferred on the respondent by s. 3(1) cannot include the power to increase the tariff rate; it would include the power to reduce the rates. This argument is en tirely misconceived. The word "regulate" is wide enough to confer power on the respondent to regulate either by in creasing the rate, or decreasing the rate, the test being what is it that is necessary or expedient to be done to maintain, increase, or secure supply of the essential articles in ques tion and to arrange for its equitable distribution and its availability at fair prices. The concept of fair prices to which s. 3(1) expressly refers does not mean that the price once· fixed must either remain stationary, or must be reduced in order to attract the power to regulate. The power to regulate can be exercised for ensuring the payment of a fair price, and the fixation of a fair price would inevitably depend upon a consideration of all relevant ·and economic factors which contribute to the determination of such a fair price. If the fair price indicated on a dispassionate consideration of all relevant fa.c.tors turns out to be higher than the price fixed and pre~a1hng, then the power ~o regulate the price must necess~nly . mclude t.he power to mcrease the price so as to make 1t farr. That 1s why we do not think Mr. Setalvad is right in contending that even though the respondent may have the power to regulate the prices at which electrical energy should be supplied by it to the appellants, it had no power to enhance the said price. We must, thert!fore, hold that the challenge to the validity of the impugned notified orders on the ground that they are outside the purview of s. 3(1) cannot be sustained. · That takes us to the next question as to whether the im pugned notified orders are invalid, because they contravene 468 SUPREME COUR'I REPORTS (1964] I . 19 4 ' l f v. _ _ etc. aw.I Other•. Gajendraqwlkar,G.J. Even so, can it be said that the 6 Sri Venkata the provisions of Art 19(l)(f) and (g) of the Constitution. The. impugned orders have been notified by virtue of the ·~~etaramantane¥• power conferred on the respondent by s. 3(1) and may there- b "'"'' aw.I Oil Mills · as aw or the purpose of Art. 19. We may tore, e trea . al~o assume m favour of the appellants that the right to re- Sta~,i,1.dhra ce1ve the supply of electricity at the rates specified in the agreements is a right which falls within Art. 19(1)(0 or (g). impugned notified orders are not reasonable and in the interests of the general public? That is the question which calls for an answer in dealing with the present contention. It is true that by issuing the impugned notifii:d orders, the respondent has successful1y altered the rates agreed between the parties for their res pective contracts and that, prima facie, does appear to be unreasonable. But, on the other hand, the evidence shows that the tariff which was fi i,;~d several years ago had become completely out of date and he reports made by the Account ant-General from time to time clearly indicate that the res ponden.t was supplying electricity to the appellants at the agreed rates even though 1t was incurring loss from year to year. Therefore, it cannot l>e said that the impugned notified orders were not justified on the merits. The prices of all commodities and· labour charges having very much increased meanwhile, a case had certainly been made out for increas ing the tariff for the supply of electrical energy. But it could not be possible to hold that the restriction imposed on the appellants' right by the increase made in the rates is reason able and in the interests of the general public solely because the impugned orders have saved the recurring loss incurred by the respondent under the contracts. If such a broad and general argument were accepted, it may lead to unreason able and even anomalous consequences in some cases. This question, however, has to be considered from the point of view of the community at large; and thus considered, the point which appears to support the validity of the impugned orders is that these orders were passed solely for the pur. pose of assuring the supply pf/electrical energy and that would clearly be for the goOd of the community at large. Unless prices were increased, there was risk that the supply of electrical energy may itself have come tp an end. If the respondent thought that the agreements made with the appel lants were resulting in a heavy loss to the public treasury from year to year, ·it may have had to consider whether the supply should not be cut down or completely stopped. It may well be that the respondent recognised its obligation to the public at large and thought that supplying electrical energy to the consumers who were using it for profit-making purposes. at ,a loss to the public exchequer would not ?e reasonable and legitimate, and it apprehended that the legis lature may well question the propriety or wisdom of such I 'l S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 469 1964 Sri Venkata .a course; and so, instead of terminating the .contracts, de- cided to assure the supply of eledrical energy at a fair price .and that is why the impugned notified orders were issued. Seetaramanjaneya We ought to make it clear that there has been no suggestion Ric~::a'"ii?,;,;.1'118 before us that the prices fixed by the impugned notified orders are, in any sense, unreasonable or excessive, and it State 01 Andhra ' 1s s1gn1 cant t at even t e revise operation prospectively and not retrospectively. Therefore, Gajendragadkar,O.J. having regard to all the circumstances in this case, we are disposed to hold that the change made in the tariff by the notified orders must be held to be reasonable and in the in- terests of the general public. as o come m o Pradesh etc. _ 'ff h · d • t 'fi h h v. t ' Mr. Setalvad also attempted to challenge the validity of the impugned orders on the ground that they contravene Art. 14 of the Constitution. In support of this contention, he invited our attention to the allegation made in Writ Petition No. 923 of 1956. In that writ petition, one of the petitioners stated that the rate prescribed under the agree- . ments had not changed and had remained stationary as far as consumers under the State Government's licensees were that certain concerned. The affidavit appears to concede other licensees had increased their rates, but that increase, it is claimed, was negligible or nominal; and so, the argu ment \vas that the rate,s which are widely divergent between consumer and consumer constitute a contravention of Art. 14. Mr. Setalvad fairly conceded that these allegations are vague and indefinite and no other material has been pro duced either by the petitioner who has made this affidavit, or by any of the other petitioners who moved the High Court for challenging the validity of the impugned orders. 1!1 fact, we do not know what the rates charged by other licensees are and have been, and how they compare with the rates prescribed by the original contracts as well ras the rates enhanced by the impugned notified orders. We ought to add that the Division Bench of the High Court appears to be in error when it assumed that the respondent was the ~ole supplier of electrical energy in the State of Andhra. It is true. that the bulk of the energy is supplied by the respon dent; but there are some other private licensees which are licensed to supply electrical energy to the consumers and in that sense, at the relevant time the respondent was not a monopolist in the 1,0atter of supply of electricity. This Court has repeatedly pomted out that when a citizen wants to challenge the validity of any statute on the ground that it co~travenes Art. 14. SJ?ecific. clear and unambiguous alle gabons 1!1ust be made m that behalf and it must be shown that the. 1mpu.gne~ sta!ute is based on discrimination and that such discnmmatmn 1s not referable to any classification ~ I 470 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1964) whic:h is rational and which has nexus with the object in- 1964 tended to be achieved by the said statute. Judged from that Sri Venkata Seetaramanjaneya point of view, there is absolulety no material on the record RicrnndOil Mill8 of any of the appeals forming the present group on which a plea under Art. 14 can even be raised. Therefore, we do and Otliera. v. of Andhra not think it is necessary to pursue this point any further. . State Prade11hetc. Gajendragadkar,O.J. ·-~- The result is the appeals fail and are dismissed with costs. One set of hearing fees. Appeals dismissed.