M/S. Agri Development Center v. The State of Assam and 3 Ors

ORDER Date : 07.08.2023

¶1The Petitioner herein has approached this Court being aggrieved by the suspension of his Wholesale ID which was issued to him after the Petitioner was issued license under the provisions of the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985.

¶2The basic case of the Petitioner herein is that the suspension of the said Wholesale ID by which the entire business of the Petitioner had come to a standstill was without following due process and also in violation to the principles of natural justice.

¶3It appears on records that this Court vide an order dated 09.08.2019 issued notice and further directed the Respondent Nos. 2, 3 and 4 to restore the Wholesale ID of the Petitioner within two days from the date of receipt of the certified copy of the order. Further to that liberty was also granted to the Respondent Authorities to take further action in the matter in accordance with law after serving proper show cause notice upon the Petitioner.

¶4The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner submits that Page No.# 3/4 pursuant to the order dated 09.08.2019, the Wholesale ID of the Petitioner was restored and the Petitioner is presently carrying on his business. He further submits that there has been no further steps taken by the Respondent Authorities thereafter.

¶5This Court further finds it relevant to take note of the affidavit-in-opposition filed by the Respondent No.4 and more particularly to paragraph Nos. 4 and 5 wherein it has been mentioned that the suspension of the Wholesale ID of the Petitioner was on the basis of an E-mail received from the Respondent No.3 and the Respondent No.4 took that action taking into account that Respondent No.4 was bound by the orders passed by the Respondent No.3.

¶6Taking into account that without a Wholesale ID, the petitioner would not be in a position to carry out his business and consequently the suspension of the Wholesale ID entails civil consequences. Under such circumstances the Respondent Authorities more particularly the Respondent Nos. 3 and 4 ought to have taken the steps of suspension by providing the Petitioner an opportunity of hearing.

¶7In that view of the matter, as admittedly the principles of natural justice was not adhered to and the Respondent No.4 had also admitted in the affidavit-in-opposition that it was just on the basis of an E-mail received from the Respondent No.3 for which the Wholesale ID of the Petitioner was suspended, this Court sets aside the action on the part of the Respondent No.4 to suspend the Wholesale ID of the Petitioner.

¶8Accordingly, the instant writ petition therefore stands allowed.

¶9Before parting with the records, this Court finds it relevant to observe that Page No.# 4/4 if the Respondent Authorities have reasons to suspend or cancel the Wholesale ID of the Petitioner, they can do so only by providing a reasonable opportunity of hearing to the Petitioner.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010181732019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5542/2019o M/S.oAGRIoDEVELOPMENToCENTERo AoPROPoFIRMoHAVINGoITSoREGDoOFFICEoATo252,oRAJGARHoROAD,o3RDo FLOOR,oGUWAHATI,oASSAMoANDoDULYoREP.oBYoITSoPROPoMR.oMOHANLAL GOYAL VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo3oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoADDLoCHIEFoSECRETARYoANDoAGRICULTUREoPRODUCTIONo COMMISSIONER,oAGRICULTUREoDEPTT,oGOVToOFoASSAM,oBLOCK-E,o FIRSToFLOOR,oASSAMo(CIVIL)oSECRETARIAT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o06,o ASSAM 2:THEoDIRECTOR oDEPTToOFoAGRICULTURE oASSAM oKHANAPARA oGUWAHATI-o781022 oASSAM 3:THEoJOINToDIRECTORoOFoAGRICULTUREo(CoANDoF) oAGRIoDEPTT oDEPTToOFoAGRICULTURE oASSAMo oKHANAPARA oGHY-o22 oASSAM 4:BRAHMAPUTRAoVALLEYoFERTILIZERoCORPoLTD oHAVINGoITSoREGDoOFFICEoAToHoNO.o21(GROUNDoFLOOR) oUSHAoNAGARoPATH oNEARoSUPERoMARKET Page No.# 2/4 DISPU For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. A. Chetia, Advocate For the Respondent(s) : Mr. K. Kalita, Advocate : Ms. G. Bora, Advocate BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH