Ambuja Singh and Anr v. The State of Assam and 8 Ors

ORDER Date : 21-08-2024 (Vijay Bishnoi, CJ)

This Writ Appeal is filed by the appellants, being aggrieved with the order dated 07.08.2024, passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C) No.3843/2024, whereby the learned Single Judge has dismissed the Writ Petition filed by the appellant, while granting liberty to them to approach the Deputy Commissioner/District Commissioner, Cachar, against the impugned order dated

22.07.2024, whereby the PDS Licence, granted in the name of the Appellant No.1 was suspended.

¶2The learned Single Judge has further observed that in the event the petitioner approaches the Deputy Commissioner/District Commissioner, Cachar, within the limitation of thirty (30) days, from the date of receipt of the impugned order, the Deputy Commissioner/District Commissioner, Cachar shall dispose of the said Appeal, after giving an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner, within fifteen (15) days from the date of receipt of the Appeal.

¶3The appellants have approached the Writ Court, being aggrieved with the order dated 22.07.2024, passed by the Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil), Lakhipur, Page No.# 4/5 whereby the PDS Licence, granted in the name of the Appellant No.1 was suspended. The learned Single Judge, taking note of the provisions of the Assam Public Distribution of Articles Order, 1982, particularly Clause 29(1)(b) of the 1982 Order, has observed that as the appellants have an alternate remedy to approach the Deputy Commissioner cum District Commissioner, Cachar against the order passed by the SDO (Civil), Lakhipur, the Writ Petition is liable to be dismissed, while granting liberty to the appellants to approach the Deputy Commissioner/District Commissioner, Cachar within a period of 30 days.

¶4Learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that as a matter of fact, the SDO (Civil), Lakhipur has suspended the PDS Licence, issued in the name of the Appellant No.1, as per the direction of the District Commissioner, Cachar and the same is evident from the Annexure-29 to the Writ Petition. Therefore, there is no point in filing an Appeal before the District Commissioner, Cachar, because it would amount to approaching the authority who himself has passed the order. Learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that he may be allowed to challenge the order passed by the SDO (Civil), Lakhipur, dated 22.07.2024, before the Commissioner, as per the provision of order 29(1)(c) of the 1982 Order, which provides that Appeal can be filed against the order of the District Commissioner to the Commissioner.

¶5Learned counsel for the respondents has no objection if the liberty is granted to the appellants to file an Appeal before the Commissioner against the impugned order dated 22.07.2024, passed by the SDO (Civil), Lakhipur.

¶6In view of the above, this Writ Appeal is disposed of with the modification that liberty is granted to the appellants to approach the Commissioner against the impugned order dated 22.07.2024, passed by the SDO (Civil), Lakhipur. It is Page No.# 5/5 also observed that if the appellants approach the Commissioner (Respondent No.4), within a period of thirty (30) days from today, the Commissioner concerned shall dispose of the said Appeal, after giving an opportunity of hearing to the appellants, within a period of fifteen (15) days from the date of receipt of the Appeal.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010164552024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWA/279/2024o AMBUJAoSINGHoANDoANRo W/OoSRIoAMIToSINGHoR/OoPAILAPOOL,oP.S.oLAKHIPURoDIST.oCACHAR,o ASSAM,oPIN-o788098 2:oSRIoBINODoKAIRI oS/OoLATEoBACHANoKAIRIo R/OoVILL-oLALANGKITTAo LABCPARoPART-II oP.O.oPAILAPOOLo P.S.oLAKHIPUR oDIST.oCACHAR oASSAMo PIN-78809o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo8oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARY,oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI,oKAMRUPo(M)-6,oASSAM 2:THEoADDITIONALoCHIEFoSECRETARY oGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFOODoPUBLICoDISTRIBUTIONoANDoCONSUMERoAFFAIRS oDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 3:THEoSECRETARY oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIESoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI oKAMRUPo(M)-6 oASSAM PageoNo.#o2/5 4:THEoCOMMISSIONER oFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIES oCONSUMERoAFFAIRSoANDoLEGALoMETROLOGYoDEPARTMENT oGUWAHATI oKAMRUPo(M) oASSAM oPIN-o781005 5:THEoDISTRICToCOMMISSIONER oCACHAR oSILCHAR oASSAM oPIN-788001 6:THEoSUB-DIVISIONALoOFFICERo(CIVIL) oDEPARTMENToOFoFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIES oLAKHIPUR oSUB-DIVISION oLAKHIPUR oCACHAR oASSAMo PIN-788098 7:THEoASSISTANToCOMMISSIONERoCUMoEXECUTIVEoMAGISTRATE oLAKHIPUR oDIST.oCACHAR oASSAM oPIN-788098 8:THEoSUPERINTENDENT oFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIESoANDoCONSUMERoAFFAIRS oLAKHIPUR oSUB-DIVISION oLAKHIPUR oP.O.oANDoP.S.oLAKHIPURo DIST.oCACHAR oASSAM oPIN-788098 9:THEoINSPECTOR oFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIESoANDoCONSUMERoAFFAIRS oLAKHIPURoSUBo-oDIVISION oLAKHIPUR oP.O.oANDoP.S.oLAKHIPUR oDIST.oCACHAR oASSAM o Page No.# 3/5 PIN-78809 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. I ALAM, MR. RASHIDUL ISLAM,MR. B J GHOSH,MR. T SK Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, BEFORE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KARDAK ETE