Constitution of India. 1950, Arts. 19(1)(g), 32-U. P. Municipalities Act, 1916, ss. 293(1), 298(2) (g)(d)-Municipal bye-laws Bye-law imposing fee for carrying on wholesale trade in vegetables and fruits within municipal area-Validity-Restraint on fundamental right to carry on trade-License and tax, difference. 

Licence fee for carrying on an occupation, trade or business. A licence fee on a business not only takes away the property of the licensee but also operates as a restriction on his fundamental right to carry on his business. Therefore if the imposition of a licence fee is without authority of law it can be challenged by way of an application under Art., 32.

Under Art. 19(1)(g) of the Constitution a citizen has the right to carry on any occupation, trade or business and the only restriction on this unfettered right is the authority of the State  to make a law relating to the carrying on of such occupation, trade or business as mentioned in cl. ( 6) of that article as amended by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951. If therefore a licence fee imposed for carrying on an occupation, trade or business cannot be justified on the basis of any valid law, no question of its reasonableness can arise, for an illegal impost must at all times be an unreasonable restriction and will necessarily infringe the right of the citizen to carry on his occupation, trade or business under Art. 19( 1) (g), and such infringement can properly be made the subject matter of a challenge under Art. 32 of the Constitution.

Bye-law No. 1 of the Bye-laws of the Town Area Committee of Jalalabad (in the United Provinces) provided that no person shall sell or purchase any vegetables or fruit within the prescribed limits of the Town Area Committee by wholesale or auction, without paying the fees fixed by these bye-laws to the licensee appointed by the Town Magistrate. Bye-law No. 4(b) provided that any person can sell in wholesale at any place in the town area provided he pays the prescribed fees to the licensee. A person who had been carrying on the business of wholesale dealer in vegetables and fruits in his own shop at Jalalabad for a period e>f seven years applied for protection under Art. 32 contending that these bye-laws infringed his fundamental right to carry on his trade guaranteed by Art. 19( I) (g) and were therefore void.