M/S Air Transport Corporation Assam Private Limited v. The State of Assam and 2 Ors

ORDER

09.02.2024

¶1Heard Mr. D. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. A. Kalita, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents No. 1 and 2.

¶2The petitioner has approached this Court in view of the fact that the dispute between the petitioner and the respondents, in respect of bills to be paid as freight charges, which had been referred to the Facilitation Counsel under Section 18 of the Micro Small Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006, has not been decided.

¶3The case of the petitioner is that despite an application having been submitted to the Facilitation Counsel, the same has not been taken up by the Facilitation Counsel till date.

¶4Mr. A. Kalita, learned Standing Counsel for the respondents No. 1 and 2 submits that he has received information with regard to the petitioner's application, made under Section 18 of the 2006 Act, vide Letter No. E 444468/7 dated 08.02.2024 issued by the Joint Director (SP), Office of the Commissioner of Industries & Commerce, Assam. He submits that the copies of the e-mail dated 21.10.2021 issued by the Commissionerate of Industries & Commerce, Assam and letter dated 18.06.2022 issued by the Joint Director (SP), Office of the Commissioner of Industries & Commerce, Assam shows that notice had been given to the petitioner, informing him about the meeting to be held by the Facilitation Counsel. However, the petitioner failed to appear before the Page No.# 3/3 Facilitation Counsel. The 10th Meeting Minutes of the Micro and Small Enterprise Facilitation Counsel held on 29.10.2021 is also produced and the same shows that the petitioner did not appear in the meeting. The 13th Meeting Minutes of the Micro and Small Enterprise Facilitation Council held on 21.06.2022 is also to the same effect. The Facilitation Counsel had thereafter decided to close the case of the petitioner, in view of his continued absence in the meetings of the Facilitation Counsel.

¶5Mr. D. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has not received any notice of the meetings to be held by the Facilitation Counsel and as such, was unable to attend the same.

¶6In view of the submission made by Mr. D. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner, this Court is of the view that the petitioner should submit an application before the Facilitation Counsel to reopen his case, whereupon the Facilitation Counsel should consider the application of the petitioner. The letter No. 444468/7 dated 08.02.2024 issued by the Joint Director (SP), Office of the Commissioner of Industries and Commerce, Assam and the other letters and Meeting Minutes referred to above are made a part of the record and marked as 'Annexure-X' collectively. The petitioner should submit his application before the Facilitation Counsel within a period of 10 days from today, along with a copy of the order.

¶7The writ petition is accordingly disposed off.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010007282024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/372/2024o M/SoAIRoTRANSPORToCORPORATIONoASSAMoPRIVATEoLIMITEDo REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoDIRECTOR,oPRANAVoGOYAL,oHAVINGoITSo REGISTEREDoOFFICEoAToATCoBUILDING,oGROUNDoFLOOR,oKEDARoROAD,o KAMRUPoMoGUWAHATIo781001,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo2oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o INDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCE,oDEPARTMENT 2:ASSAMoMICROoANDoSMALLoENTERPRISEoFACILITATIONoCOUNCIL oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONER oINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCE oBAMUNIMAIDAM oGUWAHATIo781021 oASSAM 3:NAOLINoINFRASTRUCTUREoPVT.oLTD. o6-3-1090/1/1/3 o3RDoFLOOR oUMAoHYDEREBADoHOUSE oRAJoBHAWANoROAD oSOMAJIGUDA oHYDERABAD oTELANGANAo50008o AdvocateoforotheoPetitionerooooo:oDoDASo AdvocateoforotheoRespondento:oSC,oINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCEoo Page No.# 2/3 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA