In the Latest Court News we have Judgment passed by Hon’ble Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta of the Allahabad High Court.
Allahabad High Court held that the time limit provided for making application for allotment of fair price dealership on the death of original allottee is directory in nature.
Brief Facts of the Case Rajesh Kumar vs State Of U.P. & Ors
Father of the petitioner was a fair price shop dealer, and he passed away on 31.01.2013. The son of the dealer who is the petitioner in the instant case, filed an application in the office of Respondent no. 4 and requested them to allot the dealership to him.
There was no response from the department, so the petitioner filed a writ petition before the Allahabad High Court. The Allahabad High Court Court ordered the Respondent no. 4 to consider the application of the petitioner and make a decision within two weeks.
One of the facts the Allahabad High Court Court observed was that there was no record that the petitioner made a representation on 09.03.2019, and only the representation dated 01.08.2019 is placed on record.
Respondent No.4 has stated that the department received the application of allotment filed by the petitioner after 45 days of his father’s death, so the shop cannot be allotted to him.
Arguments raised by the Counsel of the Petitioner:-
It was argued that the office of Respondent no. 4 routinely fails to acknowledge applications/representations. It was further argued that the first application was handed to a clerk in the office, and when no action was taken, another application was sent through a registered post on 3.09.2019.
A reminder dated 21.11.2019 was also sent to the Respondent no. 4. The Counsel also stated that as the shop has not been allotted to anyone till now, it should be allotted to the petitioner.
The stand of the Respondent
Learned Counsel for the Respondent stated that as per the impugned order, Respondent no.4 never received any application dated 09.03.2019.
It was further stated that as the representation was made after 45 days, the shop cannot be allotted.
The reasoning of the Allahabad High Court
Allahabad High Court acknowledged the fact that the application for the allotment should be filed within 45 days from the death of the original allottee. The Court further observed that the time limit was put in place to ensure that there is no unnecessary delay in making arrangements for distribution of scheduled commodities to the cardholders.
It was further observed that the object of framing scheme for allotting dealership to the dependent of a deceased dealer is to tide over the financial difficulty which befalls upon the family on account of the death of the bread earner.
The Decision of the Court
In this case, the Allahabad High Court held that the time limit was directional in nature and can be relaxed based on the circumstances of a case. The Court took into account the fact that the Respondent duly made a representation, but there was no response from the office of respondent No. 4.
Allahabad High Court further observed that as the dealership has not been allotted to anyone till now, the application of the petitioner should be considered.
The Court directed the respondent no.4 to consider the application of the petitioner and make a decision on it within six weeks.
Case details:-
Title: Rajesh Kumar vs State Of U.P. And 4 Others
Case No.: WRIT – C No. – 2993 of 2020
Date Of Order: 08.10.2020
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta
Counsel for Petitioner:- Vinod Kumar Sharma
Counsel for Respondent:- C.S.C., Krishna Kant Singh
