Short Note : 1. The petitioner is a Vaidya. He collects herbs mentioned in paragraph 1 of the petition from forest. He also purchases these herbs from Adivasis who collect them from the forest. The petitioner's grievance in this petition is that the collection of these herbs was free from royalty by order issued by the Government on 17th August 1954, but the Forest Authorities started demanding security from the petitioner for payment of royalty. The Petitioner contends that when there is a general exemption in favour of everyone, the petitioner cannot be singled out for payment of royalty. 2. The learned counsel for the petitioner argued before us that the exemption was extended by the order dated 17th October 1956 to cover all kinds of minor forest produce irrespective of whether they were mentioned in the order dated 17th August 1954 or not. We are unable to accept this contention. The order dated 11th October 1956, read as a whole, goes to show that the intention of the Government was only to clarify that the order dated 17th August 1954 continues to be in force inspite of the subsequent order dated 6th December 1954 and that it was not superseded by the subsequent order. The order dated 11th October 1956 does not intend to give any further exemption in respect of a forest produce which was not covered by the order dated 17th August 1956. 3. We, however, find that the items of herbs or forest produce which are mentioned to collect are not covered by the order dated 17th August 1954 except Aawala. The petitioner cannot, therefore, be held entitled to collect the remaining items mentioned in paragraph 1 of the petition free of royalty. The learned counsel for the petitioner contends that since no rules for royalty are yet in force, the Government is not entitled to collect royalty in respect of even those items which are not mentioned in the order dated 17th August 1954. Royalty is neither a tax nor a fee. The real nature of royalty is of price payable in respect of forest produce which is owned by the Government. Royalty is neither a tax nor a fee. The real nature of royalty is of price payable in respect of forest produce which is owned by the Government. As the Government has not granted any general exemption in respect of forest produce, excepting Aawala, mentioned in paragraph 1 of the petition, the Government can always insist that the petitioner should pay royalty or give security for payment of royalty for those items. The petitioner is entitled to succeed only in respect of Aawala. 4. The petition is partly allowed. The petitioner shall be entitled to collect Aawala from Shivpuri forest without giving any security for payment of royalty till the general exemption contained in the order dated 17th August 1954 continues to be in force. In respect of other items the petition fails and is dismissed. Petition partly allowed.