M/S Apeejay Tea Limited (Owner of Jaboka Tea Estate ) v. The Union of India and 5 Ors

ORDER

26.07.2023

Heard Mr. R.S. Mishra, learned counsel for the petitioner; Ms. A. Gayan, learned Central Government Counsel [CGC] for the respondent nos. 1 & 2; and Mr. A. Kalita, learned Standing Counsel, Industry and Commerce Department, Assam for the respondent nos. 3 – 6.

¶2Mr. Mishra, learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that a similar claim made by M/s Apeejay Tea Limited [owner of M/s Talup Tea Estate] a unit of M/s Apeejay Tea Limited; in the writ petition, W.P.[C] no. 5497/2020 has been disposed of along with a batch of writ petition, by a common order dated 23.06.2022. The petitioner herein is M/s Apeejay Tea Limited [owner of M/s Jaboka Tea Estate] a unit of same M/s Apeejay Tea Limited, and the claim of the petitioner is similar to the one made in the writ petition, W.P.[C] no. 5497/2020.

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¶3The learned counsel for the parties have, in unison, submitted that the case of the petitioner herein is covered by the common order dated 23.06.2022 passed in the batch of writ petition including W.P.[C] no. 5497/2020. The relevant parts the common order dated

23.06.2022 reads as under :

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 [EIPP-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 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 will now be considered afresh in the next meeting of the SLC. Since the other writ petitioners are also similarly situated having similar grievance, on instructions obtained from the departmental authorities, Mr. Kalita submits that the cases of the other 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 Page No.# 4/4 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 all these 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 decisions in accordance with the policy objectives. With the above observations, all the writ petitions stand disposed of.

¶4As the issue involved in the instant writ petition is similar to the one disposed of by the order 23.06.2022 passed in a batch of writ petition including W.P.[C] no. 5497/2020, this writ petition is also disposed of in similar terms. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010191302020 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5794/2020o M/SoAPEEJAYoTEAoLIMITEDo(OWNERoOFoJABOKAoTEAoESTATEo)o AoUNIToOFoAPEEJAYoTEAoLTD.oAoPUBLICoLTD.oCOMPANYoINCORPORATEDo UNDERoTHEoCIMPANIESoACT,o1956,oP.O.oSONARI,oDIST.o CHARAIDEO/SIVASAGAR,oASSAM,oPIN-785690,oREP.oBYoSRIoKAUSHIKo SENGUPTA,oATTORNEYoHOLDERoOFoM/SoAPEEJAYoTEAoLTD. VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,oMINISTRYoOFo COMMERCEoANDoINDUSTRY,oUDYOGoBHAWAN,oNEWoDELHI-110011. 2:THEoJOINToSECRETARY oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA oMINISTRYoOFoINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCE oDEPTT.oOFoINDUSTRIALoPOLICYoANDoPROMOTION oNEWoDELHIoUDYOGoBHAWAN oNEWoDELHI-11011. 3:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oDEPTT.oOFoINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCEoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 oASSAM. 4:THEoCHIEFoSECRETARY oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCEoDEPTT.oASSAMoSECRETARIAT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006. Page No.# 2/4 5:THE ADDL. CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE DEPTT. ASSAM SECRETARIAT DISPUR GUWAHATI-781006. 6:THE CHAIRMAN STATE LEVEL COMMITTEE REP. BY ITS CHAIRMAN THE ADDL. CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE DEPTT. ASSAM SECRETARIAT DISPUR GUWAHATI-781006 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. D SAHU Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY