Page No.# 1/7 GAHC010027882026 undefined THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/784/2026 M/S S R EXPORT A PROPRIETORIAL FIRM HAVING ITS REGISTERED OFFICE AT SWASTIK TRADE CENTRE, GARG HOSPITAL, GANDHI GALI, GOLGHAR, GORAKHPUR, UTTAR PRADESH, PIN - 273001 AND IS REPRESENTED BY ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE SRI MANAB JYOTI DAS, AGE ABOUT 34, SON OF LATE TARANGA DAS, RESIDENT OF HOUSE NO.6, BAMUNIMAIDAN, P.O. BAMUNIMAIDAN, P.S. CHANDMARI, GUWAHATI, PIN-781021 VERSUS THE GENERAL MANAGER AND AND 2 ORS. NORTH EASTERN FRONTIER RAILWAYS MALIGAON, GUWAHATI, ASSAM 2:THE CHIEF FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION MANAGER NORTH EASTERN FRONTIER RAILWAYS MALIGAON GUWAHATI 3:THE ASSAM MINERAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR KHANIJ BHAWAN NEAR GANESH MANDIR R.P. ROAD DISPUR GUWAHATI- 781006 ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MS. B S GOYAL, MS B CHAUHAN,MR. A J HAZARIKA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, NF RLY, MR P SHARMAH(R3),MR. K GOGOI (C.G.C) (R1,2),MS U DAS, ADDL. SR. GA, ASSAM Page No.# 2/7 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI ORDER 14.07.2026 Heard Shri A. J. Hazarika, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Shri K. Gogoi, learned CGC for the respondent nos. 1 & 2 as well as Shri P. Sharmah, learned counsel for the respondent no. 3. 2. At the outset the learned counsel for the parties have jointly submitted that the issue involve has already been adjudicated in a bunch of writ petitions vide a common judgment and order dated 05.02.2026, the lead case being WP(C)/442/2023 (M/S JYS Construction Vs The General Manager & Ors.). The present order is passed in the same lines. 3. The writ petition has been instituted challenging a communication dated 10.02.2022 issued by the Managing Director, Assam Mineral Development Corporation Ltd. to the Chief Freight Transportation Manager, N.F. Railway, Maligaon, inter alia, stipulating therein that the transit permits/ supporting documents/ papers submitted by the intending coal transporters should be sent to the office of the Managing Director, AMDCL, Assam for verification and issue of NOC jointly by him and the Directorate of Geology and Mining, Assam, before transportation of the coal by rail rake from any railway station situated in the State of Assam. 4. The petitioner is involved in the business of trading of coal and by procuring coal from the States of Nagaland and Meghalaya, it transports the same through road to the State of Assam for further transportation by railways to different States in the country. It is projected that the coal is transported along with all valid supporting documents, viz. Coal Mining Lease Certificate, Affidavit-cum- Page No.# 3/7 Indemnity Bond by the consignor, NOC and Transit Passes issued by the competent authorities along with memorandum of understanding between the parties, sale order, production details etc. which are necessary for permitting the trucks carrying such coal to enter into the State of Assam and also for production before the Railway authorities for registration of intents for allotment of rakes for transportation of coals involved. It is contended that no dispute has been raised in the matter by the respondent No. 3 and/ or any other authority that the documents produced by the petitioner of coals procured from Nagaland and Meghalaya were forged and/ or not genuine. However, the impugned communication dated 10.02.2022 has been issued. 5. The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the communication dated 10.02.2022 issued by the respondent No. 3 has been so issued without any jurisdiction and is in clear violation of Article 301 of the Constitution of India which mandates free trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India as well as the provisions of Article 371A. It is also projected that stipulation as contained in the impugned communication dated 10.02.2022 also violates the provisions of the Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017. 6. The learned counsel appearing for the State of Nagaland and the State of Meghalaya have supported the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner and has submitted that the respondent No. 3 cannot introduce any further conditionality for transportation of coal obtained from the State of Nagaland and the State of Meghalaya which is projected to be so done by complying with the provisions of law enacted in the said States for the purpose. 7. Shri Sharmah, learned counsel for the respondent No. 3, on instruction, submitted that the communication dated 10.02.2022 was necessitated to be issued by the respondent No. 3, on it coming to notice that Assam origin coal Page No.# 4/7 was being mixed with coal procured from other States transported by rakes from the railways loading points in the State of Assam. It is submitted that only to prevent the transportation of Assam coal along with the coal procured from the other States, a verification of the documents / transit passes was mandated vide the communication dated 10.02.2022. It is submitted that vide the said communication, the respondent No. 3 had in no manner questioned the documents including the transit passes issued by the competent authorities in the State of Nagaland and the State of Meghalaya and it only intended to verify as to whether along with the coals procured from the States of Nagaland and Meghalaya transported by Railways, coal of Assam origin were also being so transported. It is submitted that only documents submitted by the intending transporters of coal to the Railways is to be verified by the respondent No. 3 and if from the documents or the transit passes, no coal of Assam origin is found to be so transported, no objection would be issued by the respondent No. 3 jointly with the Directorate of Geology and Mining. In view of the above premises, it is submitted that the said communication dated 10.02.2022 being issued only to prevent unauthorized transportation of Assam origin coal, the same would not mandate an interference from this Court. 8. The rival submissions have been duly considered and materials on record have been carefully perused. 9. A perusal of the impugned communication dated 10.02.2022 would reveal that the Managing Director of the respondent No. 3 Corporation, had projected that the respondent No. 3 was the only Govt. agency under the Mines and Mineral Department, Govt. of Assam involved in the sale of coal and accordingly requested the Railway authorities that the transit permits/ supporting documents/ papers submitted by the intending coal transporters, be forwarded Page No.# 5/7 to the office of the Managing Director of the respondent No. 3/ Corporation for verification and issue of NOC jointly by the respondent No. 3 and the Directorate of Geology and Mining, Assam before transportation of coal by rail rake from any railway station in the State of Assam. The materials brought on record as well as the submission made by the learned counsel for the parties reveal that the petitioner has procured coal which is sought to be transported through Railway to various other States in the country, from the States of Nagaland and Meghalaya, after complying with the requirements for such procurement as existing in the States of Nagaland and Meghalaya. It is also evident from the materials available on record that before registering an intent from transportation of coal by Railways rakes, the Railway authorities mandatorily require the intending tenderer to furnish certain specified documents. The Railway authority upon perusing the said documents draw satisfaction with regard to the genuineness of the coal sought to be transported through Railways. It is only on genuineness of intents placed that the railway permits the transportation of the coal to the various other States of the country by placing rakes for the purpose. 10. Article 301 of the Constitution of India mandates for freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India. Article 302 mandates that it is only the Parliament which may by law impose such restrictions on the freedom of trade, commerce or intercourse between one State and another or within any part of the territory of India as may be required in the public interest. Further Article 304 mandates that the Legislature of a State made by law impose such reasonable restriction on the freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse with or within that State as may be required in public interest. Page No.# 6/7 11. The requirements placed upon the railways by the respondent No. 3 by the communication dated 10.02.2022, in the considered view of this Court places an unreasonable restriction on the freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse between the States. As noticed, hereinabove, the petitioner has projected that it has procured coal from the States of Meghalaya and Nagaland after complying with all requisite provisions of law as existing in the said States and the coal so procured along with all valid documents are sent by road to the State of Assam, for transportation from various Railway heads in the State of Assam for transportation therefrom to various other States in the country by way of Railway rakes. Materials on record do not, in any manner indicate that the documents as furnished by the petitioner for transportation of coal procured from the States of Nagaland and Meghalaya are suspected to be not genuine. The only reason assigned by the respondent No. 3 for issuance of the communication dated 10.02.2022 is that along with the coal procured from the States of Meghalaya and Nagaland transported from the various Railway heads in the State of Assam to various other States of the country, Assam origin coal procured from the respondent No. 3 is also included. Accordingly, it is projected that it is only to verify the genuineness of the transit passes produced by the intending tenderers of Assam origin coal procured from the respondent No. 3, that the said communication dated 10.02.2022 was so issued. Given the said stand taken by the respondent No. 3 before this Court, this Court is of the considered view that the stipulation as contained in the communication dated 10.02.2022 could not have also been made applicable to the coal transported by the Railways on intents placed by the coal transporters who had procured such coals from the States of Nagaland and Meghalaya. 12. The restrictions now sought to be imposed on trade, commerce and Page No.# 7/7 intercourse between the States by the respondent No. 3, which is only an autonomous body under the Govt. of Assam, is in violation of Article 304(b) of the Constitution of India. Article 304(b) of the Constitution of India having laid down that it is only the Legislature of a State which may by law impose such reasonable restrictions on the freedom of trade, commerce or intercourse with or within that State as may be required in the public interest, such restrictions could not be placed for any reason by the respondent No. 3. Accordingly, this Court is of the view that the stipulation as contained in the communication dated 10.02.2022 is clearly not sustainable. 13. In view of the above discussions, this Court is of the considered view that the communication dated 10.02.2022 would not be sustainable and accordingly, the same is set aside. The setting aside of the communication dated 10.02.2022 would not prevent the respondent No. 3 to put in place measures for protection of its interest with regard to the transportation of Assam origin coal by putting in place provisions in strict accordance with law holding the field. 14. The writ petition accordingly stands disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant