Ram Bahadur Sunar v. Union of India and 13 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010235352024 ooooooo undefined ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/71/2024o RAMoBAHADURoSUNARo S/O-oLATEoUDEIBIRoSUNAR,o R/O-oGORMORAoNO-1,oP.OoANDoP.S-oCHARIDUAR,oDIST-oSONITPUR,oASSAM, PIN-784103 VERSUSo UNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo13oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoJOINToSECRETARYo,oMINISTRYoOFoPETROLEUMoANDo NATURALoGAS,oSHASTRIoBHAWAN,oRAJENDRAoPRASADoROAD,oNEWo DELHI-01 2:INDIANoOILoCORPORATIONoLIMITED oREP.oHEREINoBYoTHEoCHIEFoGENERALoMANAGERo INDIANoOILoBHAWAN o oSECTORo-III oNOONMATI oGUWAHATI-20 oASSAM 3:STATEoOFoARUNACHALoPRADESH oREP.oHEREINoBYoITSoCHIEFoSECRETARYo o(GOVToOFoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CIVILoSECRETARIAT oBLOCKoNO-2 o 5THoFLOOR oITANAGAR oPIN-791111 oARUNACHALoPRADESH PageoNo.#o2/5 4:DIRECTORoOFoFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIES oPAPUoNALAH oDIST-oPAPUMoPAARE oPIN-791110 oARUNACHALoPRADESH 5:SUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICE oSONITPUR oASSAM oPIN-784001 6:SUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICE oEASToKAMENG oARUNACHALoPRADESH oPIN-790102 7:BIJAYoRAI oBINDAoDEVIoTRADERS o OILoTANKERoOWNERoANDoVENDOR oMISAMARI oGORUBANDHA oPIN-784506 8:SHYAMoPAREEK oC/O-oRAJESHoMOTORS o OILoTANKERoOWNER oGNBoROAD oRANGAPARA oDIST-oSONITPUR oASSAM 9:SUNILoKUMARoBOOBANA oPROP.oTARANIoENTERPRISES o OILoTANKERoOWNERo oMAINoROADoRANGAPARA oDIST-oSONITPUR oASSAM oPIN-784505 10:GOKULoCHRTRY oPROP.oKHUSBOOoENTERPRISES o OILoTANKERoOWNERo Page No.# 3/5 CHARIDUAR MES ROAD SONITPUR ASSAM PIN-784103 11:TSERING THAPA BAMUN CHUBURI ROAD

OIL TANKER OWNER MAJGAON SONITPUR ASSAM PIN-784001 12:RAJA SHARMA OIL TANKER OWNER WEST KAMENG ARUNACHAL PRADESH DHOUNG VILLAGE PIN-790116 13:M/S TARA BAGANG KEROSENE AGENCY SEPPA (CONSIGNEE) P.O-SEPPA DIST-EAST KAMENG ARUNACHAL PRADESH PIN-790102 14:BASANTA KUMAR DAS THE THEN DEPOT GENERAL MANAGER FROM 2018-2021 MISSAMARI IOCL DEPOT SONITPUR ASSAM PIN-78450 For petitioner(s)/appellant(s) : Mr. P. P. Bora, Advocate Mr. P. P. Medhi, Advocate

For respondent(s) : Mr. B. Deka, Advocate Ms. S. Sarma, Advocate Mr. B.D. Goswami, Addl. AG, Arunachal Pradesh Mr. A. Chandran, Add. Sr. GA, Arunachal Pradesh Page No.# 4/5

-BEFORE-HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. VIJAY BISHNOI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAUSHIK GOSWAMI

27.11.2024

This PIL petition is filed by the petitioner raising the issue regarding the irregularities committed by some individuals and government officials in distribution of Kerosene Oil and other petroleum products supposed to be distributed to the public at large under the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the State of Arunachal Pradesh. It is contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that certain individuals in connivance with the government officials are indulged in misappropriating the aforesaid items supposed to be distributed to the public under the PDS system. It is contended that in some of the cases police has registered criminal cases, but in respect of some instances pointed out by the petitioner vide representation submitted to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and other officials of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, no action has been taken against the persons involved. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and after going through the material available on record, prima face we are of the view that the petitioner has raised an issue of grave concern that certain individuals are indulged in committing criminal acts by interfering with the Public Distribution System, which is required to be thoroughly investigated. On a pointed query raised by this Court, learned counsel for the petitioner has frankly admitted that the petitioner has not filed any complaint with the concerned police station or with the competent criminal court regarding the criminal activities carried out by certain individuals. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioner on instructions has submitted that he may be allowed to withdraw this PIL petition with liberty to approach the concerned Page No.# 5/5 police station, or the competent criminal court highlighting the criminal activities carried out by some individuals resulting in siphoning of public money as well as misappropriation of essential items supposed to be distributed to the public at large under the PDS. In view of the above submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner, this PIL petition is dismissed as withdrawn, with liberty to the petitioner, as prayed for.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant