Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Trade and business. - In the writ petitions before Supreme Court the contention raised was that the A.P. (Regulation of Wholesale Trade, Distribution and Retail Trade in Indian liquor and Foreign Liquor, Wine and Beer) Act No. 15 of 1993 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") deals with taking over only of "trade" and not "business" in liquor and, therefore, the petitioners cannot be prevented from carrying on the "business" of wholesale dealing in Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) during the period of the validity of their FL-15 licences issued to them. It is not disputed that the petitioners are wholesale traders in Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and have been carrying on the said trade under FL-15 License issued to them. The license permits them to sell IMFL in the premises indicated in the license. As the preamble of the Act shows, it has been enacted to take over the wholesale trade and distribution in Indian Liquor/Foreign Liquor, Wine and Beer from the private sector in order to have an effective control over the wholesale supply and distribution of the liquor. The State Government had taken a policy decision that in public interest, the exclusive privilege of supplying in wholesale the Indian Liquor/Foreign Liquor, Wine and Beer in the whole of the State of Andhra Pradesh shall be vested in the A.P. Beverage Corporation Limited and for terminating all existing licenses for wholesale trade and distribution of the Indian Liquor/Foreign Liquor, Wine and Beer. The title of the Act also has owns that it is for regulation of wholesale trade and distribution and retail trade in Indian Liquor/Foreign Liquor, Wine and Beer. Section 3 of the Act further makes it clear that any license issued to sell Indian Liquor/Foreign Liquor, Wine and Beer in wholesale and remaining in force on the appointed day, shall stand terminated with effect from thatday. As stated above, the license is issued to the petitioners viz., FL-15 is also to sell the liquor in the premises and to do no more. When, therefore, the Act terminated the said license of the petitioners with effect from the appointed day, the whole of the trade or business of the petitioners for sale of the liquor came to an end. It is, therefore, difficult to understand the logic of the petitioners' contention that what was extinguished was only the trade of sale and not the business of sale. However, we will examine even the said contention for what it is worth. There is no doubt that the word "business" is more comprehensive than the word “trade” since it will include manufacture which the word "trade" may not ordinarily include. The primary meaning of the word "trade" is the exchange of goods for goods or goods for money However, the word "trade" has also secondary meaning viz., business carried on with a view to profit. In fact, the words "trade" and "industry" are also used interchangeably many time. It all depends upon the contact in which the words occur. In Words and Phrases Legally Defined, Third Edition (Volume 4: R-Z) by John B. Saunders, the word “trade” is explained as:- 'Trade' in its primary meaning is the exchange of goods for goods or goods for money and' in a secondary meaning it is any business carried on with a view to profit, whether manual or mercantile, as distinguished from the liberal arts, or Iearned profession and from agriculture. However, the word is of very general application, must always be considered in the context in which it is used. As used in various revenue Acts, “trade” is not limited to buying and selling, but may include manufacture. In the expression „restraint‟ of trade' the word is used in its loosest sense to cover every kind of trade, business, profession or occupation. Lord Heward, CJ. has observed : "No doubt in a great many contexts the word "trade" indicates a process of buying and selling, but that is by no means an exhaustive definition of its meaning. It may also mean a calling of industry or class of skilled labour." While interpreting the provisions of the Industrial Courts Act, 1919 Lord Wright, in3 has observed thus: "Section 11 of the Act of 1919 (Industrial Courts Act 1919) shows that 'trade' is used as including "industry because it refers to a trade dispute in the industry of agriculture .... Trade and industry are thus treated as interchangeable terms. Indeed, "trade" is not only in the etymological or dictionary sense, but in legal usage, a term of the widest scope. It is connected originally with the word "tread' and indicates a way of life or an occupation. In ordinary usage it may mean the occupation of a small shopkeeper equally with that of a commercial magnate. It may also mean a skilled craft." Lord Donovan has observed : "A trade is an organised seeking after profits as a rule with the aid of physical assets." Thus it is appar5nt that the word "trade" may include all the connotations of the word "busi- ness". As held in Article 19 (1) (g) of our Constitution, the words 'trade' and "business" are used synonymously. Hence, we reject the contention and hold that after the taking-over of the trade, viz., the activity of buying and selling liquor; no activity was left with the petitioners to carry on under the license held by them.