MUHAMMAD SAIR ALI, J.- Olympia Industries Limited, the petitioner, was declined the Rural Area Certificate by the Director of Industries (Planning Section) through Memo, dated 9.9.2002 and decision dated 18.11.2002. Appeal filed thereagainst was also dismissed by the Secretary, Industries Department, Government of Punjab, Lahore, through order dated 21.7.2003. It was held by the Secretary, Industries Department, that the unit of the petitioner though falls outside the municipal limits of Sheikhupura but was within 30 kilometer area of the exterritorial limits of Lahore Municipal Corporation, wherefore the petitioner was not located in the "Rural Area" in the terms of the policy letter No. 6(100)/90-Policy, dated 2.5.1992 and SRO 897(1)/92, dated 15.9.1992 and the Rural Area Certificate, therefore, could not be issued.
2. Aggrieved therefrom the petitioners filed the present Constitutional Petition. The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the applicable Industrial Policy Circular dated 2.5.1992 and SRO 897(1)/92, dated 15.9.1992 defined the "Rural Area" as the area excluding the existing limits of Municipal Corporations and 10 kilometer area around the same and that the petitioner being located outside the 10 kilometer from the limits of Municipal Corporation, Sheikhupura was entitled to the requisite certification. And that in case of overlapping, the conflict was to be resolved in favour of the citizen by adopting interpretation beneficial to the subject, It was also contended that the litigation between the petitioner etc. And the Federal Government qua imposition of 6% import licence fee was finally adjudicated upon by judgment dated 29.1.2002 of an Honourable Division Bench of this Court whereby the Government was directed to release petitioner's bank guarantee for 4% of the licence fee amount which was furnished under the interim orders of the Court. And that the Honourable Division Bench through the said judgment held the petitioner entitled to the import licence at 2% fee. And that the respondents illegally denied issuance of Rural Area Certificate to the petitioner to enable release of the bank guarantee.
3. The respondents filed their reports. The AAG on their behalf contended that the imported machines were installed by the petitioner at its Unit which was within 30 kilometers of the limits of Lahore Metropolitan Corporation in terms of the above-referred Policy and SRO therefore the petitioner had no right under the Rural Area Development Incentive Scheme to the Rural Area Certificate, It was also contended that the petitioner was previously declined such certificate by the Deputy Director, Industries, Lahore on 12.1.1993 which order had become final in absence of any appeals thereagainst. And that the period of five years provided under the notification had already elapsed wherefor the present petition was unmaintainable.
4. The learned counsel of the parties have been heard. Their submissions and the record produced by them before this Court have also been considered.
5. The imported machinery was installed by the petitioner at the project site located at Lahore- Sheikhupura Road i.e. 13 kilometers from Sheikhupura municipal limits. The petitioner's project was admittedly outside the notified 10 kilometers limit of Municipal Committee, Sheikhupura wherefor the petitioner claimed that the same fell within the "Rural Area", entitling it to the incentives under the scheme. Measured from Lahore, the project was within the notified 30 kilometers radius of Lahore municipal limits. The respondents as such sought exclusion of this project from the "Rural Area" and the scheme incentives.
6. The dispute between the parties thus arose because of the overlapping limits prescribed under the relevant Industrial Policy Circulars and the SRO. Under the policy to inter alia shift the industrial concentration growth from the urban areas to the rural areas. Rural Industrial Development Incentive Schemes were introduced by the Government of Pakistan from time to time. These industrial incentives included Income Tax holiday, exemption from payment of Customs Duty, Sales Tax, Import Surcharge, reduction in Import License Fee and non-questionability as the source of investment etc. Etc.
7. "Rural Area" was specified and defined in these Industrial Policies.
(A) Industrial Policy Circular No. 6(12)/90-Policy, dated 31.7.1990 defined the "Rural Area" as under:--
(1) Rural area in the context of Rural Industrial Development Incentives shall mean all Rural Areas excluding:
(a) Major Industrial Estates of Hub, Norriabad,. Chunian, Hattar and Gadoon and areas upto 60 KMs outside their limits except areas around Gadoon.
(b) (i) 60 kilometers outside the municipal/cantonment limits of Karachi.
(ii) 50 kilometers outside the municipal/cantonment limits of Lahore.
(iii) Upto 20 kilometers outside the:
(a) existing limits of Municipal Corporations and the Cantonment limits excluding Sargodha, Hyderabad and Sukkur;
(b) limits Of Islamabad Capital Territory.
(iv) Areas falling within the limits of all Municipal Committees and Cantonment Boards in Pakistan.
(B) The definition of "Rural Area" was modified in Industrial Policy Circular No. 6(12)/90-Policy, dated 17.12.1990 to read as under:-
(1) Rural areas in the context of Rural Industrial Development Incentives shall mean all rural areas excluding:
(a) Major Industrial Estates of Hub, Nooriabad, Chunian, Hattar and Gadoon and areas upto 10 kilometers outside their limits.
(b) (i) The Municipal limits of Karachi 40 kilometers areas around these limits.
(ii) The Municipal/Cantonment Limits of Lahore and 30 kilometers around these limits.
(iii) The existing limits of Municipal Corporations and their Cantonment Boards and 10 kilometers areas around these limits.
(iv) Areas falling within the limits of all Municipal Committees and Cantonment Boards and Islamabad Capital Territory.
(C) That on 2.5.1992 the Government of Pakistan decided to further modify the scheme. The definition of rural area as earlier notified was also revised and prefaced vide Circular No. 6(100)/90-Policy, dated 2.5.1992 Ss under:- "The Government of Pakistan has announced altogether a new package for Rural Industrialization as notified vide Ministry of Industries Circular No. 6(12)/90-Policy, dated the 17th December, 1990. It has now been decided that the scope of rural industrialization scheme may be enlarged to include all industrial estates which are in the rural areas provided they fall outside the prescribed distance from the concerned Municipal Corporation/Committee limit. As such the definition of rural areas as earlier notified vide Ministry of Industries Circular referred to above has been revised and the new definition is reproduced below alongwith the incentives available under this scheme:-
(i) Rural Areas in the context of Rural Industrial Development Incentives shall mean all Rural Areas excluding:--
(a) Major Industrial Estates of Chunian covered under Municipal Committees limits of Pattoki and area of Hub Industrial Estate which falls inside the prescribed distance from the concerned Municipal Corporation/Committee limits.
(b) The Municipal/Cantonment Board limits of Karachi and Lahore and 30 kilometers area around these limits.
(c) The existing limits of Municipal Corporations and their Cantonment Boards and 10 kilometers areas around these limits.
(d) Areas falling within the limits of all Municipal Committees and Cantonment Boards and Islamabad Capital Territory.
(D) That on 15.9.1992 the Federal Government in exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (2) of Section 14 of Income Tax Ordinance, 1979 issued Notification No. SRO 897(1)/92, dated 15.9.1992 containing definition of "Rural Areas" reads as under:-- "(118-D)(1) Profits and gains derived by an assessee from an industrial undertaking set up between the first day of December, 199Q, and the thirtieth day of June, 1995, both days inclusive, for a period of five years beginning with the month in which the undertaking is set up or commercial production is commenced, whichever is the later.
(2) The exemption under this clause shall apply to an industrial undertaking which fulfils the following conditions, namely:--
(a) that it is set up in an area not covered by clause (118C) outside the limits of any Municipal Corporation or Municipal Board and Islamabad Capital Territory and in no case within the following area namely:--
(i) upto thirty kilometers from the municipal or cantonment limits of Karachi or Lahore; and
(ii) upto ten kilometers from the existing limits of municipal corporation or cantonment boards.
8. The definition of "Rural Area" as in above reproduced Circular No. 6(100)/90-Policy, dated 2.5.1992 and Notification No. SRO 897(1)/92, dated 15.9.1992 applicable to the present case, determines the entitlement to the benefits/concessions/incentives under the Rural Industrial Development Incentives Scheme. Only a project or an industrial establishment located within the "Rural Area" can benefit from the said scheme. The petitioner is admittedly located outside the ten kilometers limit of Sheikhupura municipality, thus it falls in "Rural Area" as per Article 1(i)(c) of the revised Policy Circular, dated 2.5.1992 and clause (a)(ii) of SRO No. 897(1)/92, dated 15.9.1992. The petitioner also falls within the thirty kilometers limit from Lahore municipality. Applying the Lahore distance, the petitioner gets excluded from the "Rural Area" under Article 1(b) of the Circular, dated 2.5.1992 and clause (a)(i) of SRO, dated 15.9.1992. The overlapping of limits has thus created a conflict situation.
Respondent department has interpreted the conflict in its favour in reference to Lahore limits to deprive the petitioner of benefits, incentives and the certificate under the Policy. The petitioner, Contrarily, claims to be within the "Rural Area" taking Sheikhupura municipal limits as the start line.
9. Technically both the parties are right as well as wrong in their respective interpretations they are within the parameters of the Policy Circular and the SRO. This conflict has been caused by the ambiguity in the said Policy Circular and the SRO. Arising of such a conflict, issue or contradiction from the clauses of the revised Policy Circular and the SRO was natural as well as predictable. With a little attention such disputes or issues could have been resolved by incorporating either an overriding clause or a dispute resolution clause. Failure of the framers and authors of the Policy Circulars and the SRO in stipulating such a clause has created the ambiguity of absurdity, which on one hand grants the entitlement but on the other takes away the same. The provisions of the circulars and the SRO to that extent are contradictory as well as destructive of the object of Rural Area Development Scheme
10. In view of the above ambiguity, absurdity and contradiction, jurisdiction of this Court has been invoked to construct the meaning of the above-referred policy circular dated 2.5 1992 and SRO dated 15 9,1992 The rules of interpretation are that where the language of a statute, in its ordinary meaning and grammatical construction, leads to a manifest contradiction of the apparent purpose of the enactment, or to some inconveniene or absurdity, hardship or injustice, a construction may be put upon to modify the meaning of the words, or even the structure of the sentence Such construction must, however, advance the purpose of the enactment or the legal instrument and should be in accord with the. Requirements of justice and economic equities.
11. Keeping in view the above rule of construction, the absurdity arising from the overlapping limits of the two prescribed distances from the two municipal limits can only be resolved by reference to the boundaries of the concerned municipality and the revenue/administrative territorial limits of the District in which the municipal committee/corporation is located. The clue to adoption of this methodology has been adduced from the preface of the applicable Policy Circular No. 6(100)/90- Policy, dated 2.5.1992 reproduced above. The particular relevant lines therein are that:- "It has now been decided that the scope of rural industrialization scheme may be enlarged to include all industrial estates which are in the rural areas provided they fall outside the prescribed distance from the concerned Municipal Corporation/Committee limits As such the definition of rural areas as earlier notified vide Ministry of Industries Circular referred to above has been revised...
12 The object of the above circular was to revise the definition of the "Rural Area" to enlarge the scope of Rural Industrialization Scheme, It restricted and shrunk the Urban Areas to exclude industries existing therein from the benefits of the Scheme. But it enlarged the rural areas to include "All industrial estates which are in the rural areas provided they fall outside the prescribed distance from the concerned municipal corporation/committee limits". The first territorial limit was that of the concerned municipal corporation/committee. The second limit was that of the prescribed distance from the concerned municipal corporation/committee limit. Only the area falling outside these limits was defined as the "Rural Area". The start line thus was the limit of the "concerned" municipal corporation/committee and the reference point was the concerned municipal corporation/committee.
13. The term "concerned" has not been defined in the above policy circular. This term is thus to be given its ordinary meaning and routine nomenclature. Oxford Advanced Dictionary of Current English by A.S. Horn by defines 'concern' as "have relation to; affect; be of importance to" and "relation or connection in which one is interested or which is important to one". As such the "concerned" municipal committee/corporation for the petitioner is the one affecting the petitioner and having some importance for or relation or connection with the petitioner. Such a municipal corporation/committee can only be where the petitioner on the basis of its location, ordinarily and normally petitions to seek redressal of its ordinary grievances qua enforcement of its rights guaranteed under the municipal laws. For the petitioner it is obviously the Municipal Committee of Sheikhupura which governs the petitioner for the purposes of local representation, local taxation) fees, cesses, amenities, permissions, approvals, rights, remedies and duties under the applicable municipal and local laws like the Local Government Ordinance, 2001, etc. And the rules framed thereunder. Furthermore, the petitioner for the purposes of rights and obligations under other laws falls within the administrative, judicial and revenue limits of the District of Sheikhupura within the boundaries of which the concerned Municipal Committee and the petitioner are located. The petitioner in any way does not advert to the Lahore Metropolitan Corporation. The limits of Lahore Metropolitan Corporation and 30 kilometers prescribed distance therefrom cannot therefore be taken to be the determining zone concerning the petitioner. For the above reasons, I am of the opinion that the prescribed distance of 10 kilometers around the limits of Municipal Committee, Sheikhupura is the prohibitory zone for the petitioner. The project of the petitioner is outside this prohibitory zone at 13 kilometers from the limits of Sheikhupura Municipal Committee, wherefor it is held that the-petitioner is located in the "Rural Area" and is entitled to benefits and incentives of the scheme and SRO.
14 Even otherwise, the law is well-settled that in case a statute or a legal instrument is open to two interpretations, the one beneficial to the citizen is to be adopted. Moreso in the case where the ambiguity, confusion or absurdity has been created by the authors and framers of the law, policy or notifications. For the resolution of the ambiguity, equity and law thus lean in favour of the citizen and against those who created the confusion or absurdity.
15. The objections of the respondents regarding, lapse of policy period or the earlier order of 1993 do not in any way make this petition unmaintainable in judgment dated 29.1.2002 the Honourable Division Bench of this Court decided the question of the application of import licence fee as 2% and directed the petitioner to obtain release of its bank guarantee furnished under the Court's interim orders. This obviously provided a new and fresh cause to the petitioner to seek Rural Area Certificate from the respondents whose denial vested the locus standi and a grievance in the petitioner to file the present Constitutional Petition. Furthermore, on the terms of the policy relating to question of licence fee, litigation terminated on 29.1 2002. The purported lapse of five years duration of policy therefore does not debar the petitioner to benefit from the judgment in its favour to obtain release of the bank guarantee which is dependent on the grant of the Rural Area Certificate by the respondents.
16. Under these circumstances, this petition is accepted and the impugned orders dated 9.9.2002 and 18.11.2002 passed by Director Industries (Planning Section) and order dated 21.7 2003 passed by the Secretary, Industries Department. Government of the Punjab, denying Rural Area Certificate to the petitioner are declared to be without lawful authority and of no legal effect. The respondents shall issue the requisite Rural Area Certificate to the petitioner within a period of thirty days. There shall be no order as to costs.