Arun Kumar Mahato v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

26.07.2023 The instant writ petition has been filed challenging the order dated

21.12.2021 issued by the Commissioner, GMC whereby the trade license of the Petitioner was cancelled with immediate effect.

¶2When the matter was listed on 21.07.2023, Mr. P. Nayak, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the GMC had submitted that the trade license was cancelled on account of non-furnishing of the No Objection Certificate from the landlords i.e. the Respondent Nos. 5 and 6. It is well settled that an order passed by a public authority is required to contain reasons and the same cannot be supplemented at a later stage by way of clarification or by way of an affidavit. On this ground, the impugned order dated 21.12.2021 is required to Page No.# 3/4 be set aside.

¶3Be that as it may, taking into account the issue involved, this Court is of the opinion that it is required that the order dated 21.12.2021 be tested on the basis of the reasons so stated by Mr. P. Nayak, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the GMC.

¶4The Petitioner herein carries on the business of a pan shop in the name and style of 'Arun Pan Shop' and had obtained a trade license from the Respondent Authorities. The entire livelihood of the Petitioner is based upon the said pan shop. The said trade license has been renewed by the Respondent GMC authorities from time to time. However, on account of the No Objection Certificate not issued by the Respondent Nos. 5 & 6 who are the landlords, the GMC authorities have cancelled the trade license. It is under such circumstances, the instant writ petition has been filed.

¶5This Court finds it relevant at this stage to observe that without a trade license, the Petitioner cannot carry on his business of pan shop legally. Under such circumstances, the livelihood of the Petitioner is dependent on the said trade license. It is the opinion of this Court that the Respondent Authorities cannot decline renewal or even cancel the trade license on the grounds of failure/refusal of the landlord to issue the No Objection Certificate inasmuch as the same would effect the Petitioner's livelihood. Under such circumstances, the instant writ petition therefore stands disposed off thereby setting aside the order dated 21.12.2021 issued by the Commissioner, GMC, Panbazar and further directing the Commissioner, GMC to reissue the trade license to the Petitioner subject to the Petitioner complying with the other terms and conditions of the trade license. Page No.# 4/4

¶6With the above, the instant petition stands disposed off.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010066162022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2507/2022o ARUNoKUMARoMAHATOo S/O.oLT.oRAMoBIRCHoMAHATO,oR/O.oBYEoLANEoNO.1,oJAINoGALI,oKEDARo ROAD,oGUWAHATI-781009,oP.S.oBHARALUMUKH,oDIST.oKAMRUPo(M),o ASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM. 2:THEoGUWAHATIoMUNICIPALoCORPORATION oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONER oGUWAHATIoMUNICIPALoCORPORATION oPANBAZAR oGUWAHATI-781001. 3:THEoCOMMISSIONER oGUWAHATIoMUNICIPALoCORPORATION oPANBAZAR oGUWAHATI-781001. 4:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oWESToZONE oGUWAHATIoMUNICIPALoCORPORATION oGUWAHATI-781001. 5:GAUTAMoDEVoGOSWAMI oS/O.oLT.oDEVENDRAoNARAYANoDEVoGOSWAMI oR/O.oG.S.oROAD Page No.# 2/4 MANIPURI BASTI P.S. PALTAN BAZAR GUWAHATI-781008 DIST. KAMRUP (M) ASSAM. 6:HIROK GOSWAMI S/O. LT. DEVENDRA NARAYAN DEV GOSWAMI R/O. G.S. ROAD MANIPURI BASTI P.S. PALTAN BAZAR GUWAHATI-781008 DIST. KAMRUP (M) ASSAM For the Petitioner : Mr. N.N. Jha, Advocate. Ms. P. Das, Advocate. For the Respondents : Mr. D. Goswami (R-5). Ms. S. Chutia, SC, GMC. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH