Dilip Ranjan Chakraborty v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER 12-05-2023

Heard Mr. A. R. Sikdar, learned counsel for the petitioner; Ms. S. Sarma, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent nos. 1, 2 & 3 and Mr. G. Bordoloi, learned Standing Counsel, Cooperation Department for the respondent nos. 4 & 5.

¶2Though the names of the learned counsel for the respondent no. 7 are reflected in the cause-list, none of them has appeared today on call.

¶3Both the petitioner and the respondent no. 7 are residents of village - Bagargool, Post Page No.# 3/4 Office - Rakeshnagar, District - Karimganj, Assam.

¶4The petitioner has instituted the instant writ petition challenging the appointment of the respondent no. 7 as a Fair Price Shop licencee [Retailer] for the Village - Bagargool by an order dated 27.12.2016 passed by the respondent no. 3. The ground of challenge in respect of the appointment of the respondent no. 7 as a licencee of Fair Price Shop [FPS] is that the appointment was not preceded by any kind of advertisement and selection process. On the other hand, an advertisement was published on 30.05.2016 for appointment of FPS licencee [Retailer] for the Village - Chandrapur by the Secretary, Subhash Nagar Cooperative Society Ltd., Post Office - Rakesh Nagar, District - Karimganj.

¶5The vacancy for the FPS licencee [Retailer] in respect of Village - Bagargool occurred on 24.11.2016 as the previous FPS licencee [Retailer], Bidyut Paul expired on 24.11.2016. After the death of Bidyut Paul, that is, the previous FPS licencee [Retailer] at Village - Bagargool, necessity for appointment of a new FPS licencee [Retailer] in respect of Village – Bagargool arose. When the petitioner was waiting to participate in the selection process on publication of an advertisement in that regard, the impugned order dated 27.12.2016 came to be passed by the respondent no. 3 whereby the respondent no. 7 came to be appointed as the FPS licencee [Retailer] the Village - Bagargool.

¶6It has emerged from the records that the earlier FPS licencee [Retailer], Late Bidyut Paul was the husband of the respondent no. 7. The FPS licencee [Retailer] is an appointed dealer who sales any one or more of the notified articles to such holders of Family Identity Cards, at such prices, in such quantities, and such of the items as may be ordered by the Licencing Authority, after purchasing the notified articles from a Sub-Wholesaler, appointed for the purpose. It is the Licencing Authority who issues licencees to the retailers under the provisions of the Assam Public Distribution of Articles Order, 1982 ['the APDA Order, 1982 for short]. In respect of a particular district, the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner is the Licencing Authority under the APDA Order, 1982.

¶7From the affidavit-in-opposition filed by the respondent no. 2 i.e. the Deputy Page No.# 4/4 Commissioner, Karimganj, it has emerged that there is a set of guidelines of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution [Department of Public Distribution], Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi vide D.O. no. 6[7] 2004-PD1 [Pt-III] dated 03.12.2004 and D.O. no. 6[7] 2004-PD1[Pt-IV] dated 29.11.2004, which had laid down guidelines for appointment of retailers/agents of Fair Price Shops [FPSs]. Those guidelines were communicated to the State Government in the Food and Civil Supply Department vide Memo no. FSA. 391/2004/6 dated

01.04.2005. It is averred that the guidelines have provisions for giving preference to the cooperative of women, ex-servicemen and legal heirs in the matter of allotment of Fair Price Shop [FPS]. It is further stated that in the Standing Instructions contained in the Government letter no. FSA.12/96/187[A] dated 16.06.1997, there are provisions for filing up such vacancies arising out of death, resignation, etc. with legal heirs of a retail licencee. It has been asserted therein that the respondent no. 7 came to be appointed as the FPS retailer/agent on the recommendation of the PRIs and as per the resolution adopted by the Managing Committee of the jurisdictional Co-operative Society, on compassionate ground vide the Order dated 27.12.2016.

¶8The aforesaid statements and averments made by the respondent no. 2 as the Licencing Authority has not been controverted and traversed by the petitioner by filing any affidavit-in-reply. As it has emerged that the respondent no. 7 came to be appointed as the Fair Price Shop licenceee [Retailer] at Village - Bagargool, Post Office - Rakeshnagar, District - Karimganj, Assam on compassionate ground after the death of her husband, Late Bidyut Paul, who was the previous FPS licencee [Retailer] in conformity with the guidelines then in force and the Standing Instructions of the State Government, this Court does not find any good and sufficient reason to interfere with the order dated 27.12.2016 passed by the respondent no. 3. Consequently, the writ petition being bereft of any merits, stands dismissed. No cost. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010044482017 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6298/2017o DILIPoRANJANoCHAKRABORTYo S/O-oLATEoDABESHoCHAKRABORTY,oVILL-oBAGARGOOL,oP.O-o RAKESHNAGAR,oDIST-oKARIMGANJ,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoando6oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM,o DEPARTMENToOFoFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLYoANDoCONSUMERoAFFAIRSo DEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGHY-6 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oKARIMGANJ oP.OoANDoDIST-oKARIMGANJ oASSAM oPIN-o788710 3:THEoDEPUTYoDIRECTOR oFOOD oCIVILoSUPPLYoANDoCONSUMERoAFFAIRS oKARIMGANJ oP.OoANDoDIST-oKARIMGANJ oASSAM oPIN-o788110 4:THEoREGISTRARoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETY oASSAM oKHANAPARA oGUWAHATI-22 5:THEoASSISTANToREGISTRAR oCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETY Page No.# 2/4 KARIMGANJ STEAMERGHAT ROAD KARIMGANJ TOWN P.O AND DIST- KARIMGANJ PIN- 788710 6:THE CHAIRMAN SUBHASH NAGA CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD. P.O- RAKESH NAGAR DIST- KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN- 788710 7:SUMITA PAUL W/O- LATE BIDYUT PAUL R/O- VILL- BAGARGOOL P.O- RAKESH NAGAR DIST- KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN- 78871 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. N AHMED Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY