BANGALORE FRUITS COMMISSION AGENTS ASSOCIATION AND ORS Vs. SPECIAL AGRICULTURAL MARKETING COMMITTEE FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AND ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) 1St petitioner is the association. Petitioners 2 to 4 are the members of the 1st petitioner-association. It is claimed in the writ petition that the 1st petitioner-association is established to protect the interest of the professional traders engaged in trading activities of fruits and vegetables. In this writ petition. They are aggrieved by the action of the 1st respondent-Marketing Committee for fruits and vegetables in issuing a notification dated 29.07.2013 published in the Kannada Daily newspaper Samyktha Karnataka vide Annexure-A calling for registration and for submitting application seeking allotment of sites in Singena Agrahara Sub-Market Yard for the so-called newly formed sites.

(2.) According to the petitioners, the members of the 1st petitioner-association and the other petitioners were conducting their business earlier in the City Market, Bangalore. During 1994, a sub-market yard was established at Singena Agrahara for the purpose of shifting wholesale fruit business thereby providing better facilities to the merchants, farmers and traders. A plan was prepared in the year 2001 for establishment of sub-market yard. As per the said plan, shops were constructed in Blocks-A, B, C, D & E and the same were allotted to the wholesale commission agents, wherein they have been carrying on business right from 2004 onwards. Certain areas were reserved for construction of civic amenities as per the said plan. However, during the year 2011, at the instance of the 1st respondent, a decision was taken to form sites in places which were reserved for civic amenities. This made the 1st petitioner to file a writ petition in W.P.No.2796-2801/2011. In the said writ petition, petitioner contended that for the last 15 years, no elections had been held on behalf of the new committee and the Administrator appointed continued to exercise the powers of the Committee.

(3.) On 20.09.2011, the writ petition was dismissed holding that the petitioners therein had no locus standi to maintain the writ petition as they were not persons who were waiting in the queue for allotment and were indeed persons who had been allotted shops and were carrying on their trading activities. However, noticing the fact that no steps had been taken to constitute the elected committee for the past 15 years, a direction was issued to the State Government to hold elections within six months from the date of communication of the order for constituting the committee. This order is produced at Annexure-B.