Dilip Lal Srivastav v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER

06.11.2024

¶1Heard Mr. I. Alam, learned counsel for the petitioner, who submits that the petitioner had applied for grant of a Fair Price Shop licence under the Assam Public Distribution of Articles Order, 1982 (hereinafter referred to as the 'APDA Order, 1982) on 23.05.2022, due to cancellation of the Fair Price Shop licences Page No.# 3/4 of the respondent Nos.6 & 7. The respondent Nos. 6 & 7 thereafter submitted appeals to restore their licences, which was allowed vide speaking order dated

20.08.2024 and 21.08.2024, issued by the District Commissioner, Cachar, Silchar.

¶2The petitioner's counsel submits that the licences of the respondent Nos.6 & 7 could not have been restored, while the petitioner's application for grant of an FPS licence was still pending before the respondent authorities. He accordingly submits that the impugned speaking orders, by which the FPS licences of the respondent Nos.6 & 7 have been restored, should be set aside and the respondents should be directed to consider the application of the petitioner for grant of a retail licence, under the APDA Order, 1982.

¶3Mr. S.R. Baruah, learned counsel for the State respondents submits that the petitioner's application for a licence having not being granted by the State respondents even till today, no right has accrued to the petitioner to challenge the restoration of the licences that had been granted to the respondent Nos.6 &

¶7He accordingly submits that the writ petition should be dismissed.

¶4I have heard the learned counsels for the parties.

¶5The averments made in the writ petition clearly show that the respondent Nos.6 & 7 had been granted retail licences for running Fair Price Shops in terms of the APDA Order, 1982. It is not the case of the petitioner that the initial grant of retail licences for running fair price shops to the respondent Nos. 6 & 7 was arbitrary or in violation of the law. As the petitioner has not made any challenge to the initial grant of retail licences to the respondent Nos.6 & 7, the cancellation of the retail licences and the subsequent restoration of the same Page No.# 4/4 cannot, in the view of this Court, be said to be violative of any fundamental or legal right of the petitioner.

¶6In the case of Ayaaubkhan Noorkhan Pathan Vs. State of Maharashtra and Others, reported in (2013) 4 SCC 465, the Supreme Court has held that only those persons, whose enforceable rights have been violated, can approach a Writ Court under Article 226 of the Constitution for enforcement of their rights.

¶7The petitioner having never been granted a retail licence for running a Fair Price Shop, this Court is of the view that no challenge can be made by the petitioner to the restoration of the retail licences of the respondent Nos. 6 & 7, when the initial grant of the same has never been put to challenge. Accordingly, this Court does not find any ground to exercise it's discretion in the present case.

¶8The writ petition is accordingly dismissed.

JUDGE

Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010228982024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5685/2024o DILIPoLALoSRIVASTAVo S/O-oLATEoJOYoGOBINDAoSRIVASTAV,o R/O-oVILLAGE-oLALONGKITTA,o LABAKPARoPARToII,oP.O-oPAILAPOOL,oP.S-oLAKHIPUR,oDIST-oCACHAR,o ASSAM,oPIN-788004 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,o FOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIESoANDoCONSUMERoAFFAIRSoDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGHY-6. 2:THEoDIRECTORoFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIESoANDoCONSUMERoAFFAIRSo DEPTT oGUWAHATIoKAMRUPoMoASSAMoPINo781005 3:THEoDISTRICToCOMMISSIONER oCACHARo oSILCHARoASSAMoPINo788001 4:THEoCO-oDISTRICToCOMMISSIONER oCUMoSUB-oDIVISIONALoOFFICERo(CIVIL) oDEPARTMENToOFoFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIES oLAKHIPUR oCACHAR oASSAM 5:THEoSUPERINTENDENT oDEPARTMENToOFoFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIESoANDoCONSUMERoAFFAIRSo Page No.# 2/4 LAKHIPUR SUB DIVISION P.O AND P.S- LAKHIPUR CACHAR ASSAM 6:MANIKA PAUL S/O- LATE BINOD BIHARI PAUL R/O- VILLAGE-GANTERGRAM P.O- PAILAPOOL P.S- LAKHIPUR DIST- CACHAR ASSAM PIN-788004 7:BIJON BIHARI PAUL S/O- LATE BINOD BIHARI PAUL R/O- VILLAGE-GANTERGRAM P.O- PAILAPOOL P.S- LAKHIPUR DIST- CACHAR ASSAM PIN-78800 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. I ALAM, MR. T SK Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA