M/S. Ozone Ayurvedics, Unit-Ii v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER

13.09.2024

Heard Ms. M. L. Gope, learned counsel and Ms. N. Hawelia, leanred counsel for the writ petitioners in WP(C) 443/2019 and WP(C) 435/2019. Also heard Mr. N. Kalita, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. Anjan Kalita, learned Standing Counsel, Industries and Commerce Department, State of Assam, Ms. A. Gayan, learned CGC on behalf of the Union of India and Mr. M. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, NEDFI has appeared on behalf of the respondent (NEDFI). The issue involved in all these writ petitions are common, viz. rejection of the petitioners' prayer for grant of Central Capital Investment Subsidy under the North East Industrial Promotion Policy-2007 (NEIPP-2007) floated by the Central Government. The application for grant of such subsidy made by all the writ petitioners were earlier considered by the State Level Committee (SLC) headed by the Commissioner and Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Government of Page No.# 5/6 Assam and were rejected. Aggrieved by the orders of rejection, these writ petitions have been filed by the respective petitioners. According to the petitioners' counsel, their clients have been devastated by the ill effects of pandemic COVID-19 and the industries are virtually facing closure. Therefore, unless the prayer for grant of subsidy is considered expeditiously, it would lead to a catastrophic consequences for their enterprises. Mr. Kalita, learned Standing Counsel, Industries and Commerce Department, Assam, has responded to the said submission by producing a copy of the written communication dated 17/06/2022 issued by the Under Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industries and submits that instructions have been issued by the Central Government to reconsider the claims made by 3 (three) of the writ petitioners, viz. petitioners in WP(C) 3989/2018, WP(C)/3990/2018 and WP(C) 1711/2019 and their cases has already been considered afresh. Since the present writ petitioners are also similarly situated having similar grievance, on instructions obtained from the departmental authorities, Mr. Kalita submits that the cases of the writ petitioners will also be considered appropriately by the SLC in its next meeting. If that be so, it would not be necessary for this Court to enter into adjudication of the disputed issues involved in these writ petitions. With the consent of learned counsel for all the sides, I, therefore, dispose of all the writ petitions by providing that the claims of each of the writ petitioners shall be placed before the next meeting of the SLC and thereafter, the same be considered in the light of the instructions issued vide letter dated 17/06/2022 and by keeping in mind the policy objectives. Since both the writ petitions are being disposed of on the above mentioned submission of the learned departmental counsel, it is expected that the SLC will revisit/reconsider the claims of the petitioners objectively and consider the reliefs prayed for by the petitioners by adopting a positive approach and take appropriate Page No.# 6/6 decisions in accordance with the policy objectives. With the above observations, both the writ petitions stand disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010012032019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/443/2019o M/S.oOZONEoAYURVEDICS,oUNIT-IIo AoFIRMoHAVINGoITSoOFFICEoANDoFACTORYoAToEXPORToPROMITIONo INDUSTRIALoPARKo(EPIP),oAMINGAON,oNORTHoGUWAHATIoCIRCLE.oDIST.o KAMRUP,oASSAMoREP.oBYoSRIoDIPAKoKUMARoSINGH. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oDEPTT.oOFo INDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCE,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-781006. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoOFoINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCE oUDYOGoBHAWAN oBAMUNIMAIDAM oGUWAHATI-21 oASSAM. 3:THEoGENERALoMANAGER oDISTRICToINDUSTRIESoCENTREoANDoCOMMERCE oGUWAHATI-781021 oASSAM. 4:THEoNORTHoEASTERNoDEVELOPMENToFINANCEoCORPORATIONo(NEDFI) oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006. 5:STATEoLEVELoCOMMITTEEoFORoIMPLEMENTATIONoOFoINCENTIVESo UNDERoINDUSTRIALoANDoINVESTMENToPOLICY Page No.# 2/6 ASSAM REP. BY ITS CHAIRMAN AND PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE DEPTT. DISPUR GUWAHATI-06. 6:DIRECTOR OF INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE CENTRE KAMRUP GUWAHATI ASSAM. 7:UNION OF INDIA REP. BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECY. TO THE GOVT. OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE DEPTT. OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY AND PROMOTION UDYOG BHAWAN NEW DELHI Advocate for the Petitioner : MS. M L GOPE, MS. N HAWELIA,MS. N GOGOI,MS. N MECH Advocate for the Respondent : SC, INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE, MR. M DUTTA (R-4),MS N NATH (R-4) Linked Case : WP(C)/435/2019 OZONE PHARMACEUTICALS LTD. A COMPANY REGISTERED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE COMPANIES ACT 1956 READ WITH THE COMPANIES ACT 2013 AND HAVING ITS OFFICE AND FACTORY AT EXPORT PROMOTION INDUSRIAL PARK (EPIP) AMINGAON NORTH GUWAHATI CIRCLE DIST. KAMRUP ASSAM REP. BY SRI DIPAK KUMAR SINGH. VERSUS PageoNo.#o3/6 THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORS. REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM o oDEPARTMENToOFoINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCE o oMINISTRYoOFoINDUSTRIALoDEVELOPMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoOFoINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCE UDYOGoBHAWAN oBAMUNIMAIDAM oGUWAHATIo-21 oASSAM o3:THEoGENERALoMANAGER DIST.oINDUSTRIESoCENTREoANDoCOMMERCE oGUWAHATIo-o781021 oASSAM o4:THEoNORTHoEASTERNoDEVELOPMENToFINANCEoCORPORATIONo(NEDFI) DISPUR oGUWAHATIo-o781006. o5:STATEoLEVELoCOMMITTEE FORoIPLEMENTATIONoOFoINCENTIVESoUNDERoINDUSTRIALoANDo INVESTMENToPOLITYoOFoASSAM o oREP.oBYoITSoCHAIRMANoANDoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFo ASSAM o INDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCEoDEPARTMENT o DISPUR oGUWAHATIo-6. o6:DIRECTORoOFoINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCEoCENTRE KAMRUP oGUWAHATI oASSAM o7:UNIONoOFoINDIA Page No.# 4/6 REP. BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIES POLICY AND PROMOTION UDYOG BHAWAN NEW DELHI. ------------ Advocate for : MS. M L GOPE Advocate for : SC INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 6 ORS. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN DEV CHOUDHURY