KRISHNA WEIGHBRIDGE Vs. DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURAL MARKETING, AGRICULTURE PRODUCE MARKET COMMITTEE AND THE SECRETARY, AGRICULTURE PRODUCE MARKET COMMITTEE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this writ petition, petitioner is seeking a direction to the 1st respondent - - Director of Agricultural Marketing to consider the resolution dated 30.06.2012 passed by the 2nd respondent - - Market Committee, Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore and pass appropriate orders in terms of the recommendation made in the said resolution - - Annexure -C, followed by the communication addressed by the Committee to the Director on 10.08.2012 vide Annexure -D. Petitioner was a successful bidder to operate the weigh bridge belonging to the 2nd respondent on the basis of Leave and Licence Agreement entered into with the petitioner on an earlier occasion. The Leave and Licence Agreement was the resist of a notification inviting tenders for auction of weigh bridge at Gate No. 1 at Yeshwanthpur Market Yard published on 21.08.2004. According to the petitioner, he was paying regularly the licence fee to the Market Committee and that was how the licence was renewed from time to time. On 30.06.2012, the respondent - - Market Committee passed a resolution as per Annexure -C. It took note of the fact that the maximum period for renewal of licence was 55 months and after expiry of the said period, fresh tenders had to be called for. However, as the petitioner had invested about rupees ten lakhs for removing the defects in the weigh bridge and increasing its capacity and further as there was no provision for reimbursing the said amount, it was found appropriate that either the weigh bridge had to be permitted to be operated by the petitioner on lease -cum -sale basis or the amount of rupees ten lakhs spent by him had to be refunded and in that regard, approval of the Director was required to be obtained.

(2.) ACCORDING to the petitioner, the resolution passed by the 2nd respondent has been forwarded for the approval of the Director and the matter is not yet examined either by the Director or by the Government. It is also further pointed out by the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner that in the resolution - - Annexure -C, the 2nd respondent has referred to the practice followed by certain other APMC's who have allotted the weigh bridge for operation on lease -cum -sale basis and that the 2nd respondent indeed did not recommend anything new as it was suggested that the same procedure may be followed even in the case of the petitioner. However, without taking any decision on the resolution passed and to the detriment of the petitioner, the impugned tender notification has been issued on 17.09.2013 calling for fresh tenders for operating the weigh bride. It is in this background, the present writ petition is filed seeking the aforementioned reliefs.

(3.) SRI Thimme Gowda, learned counsel for respondent No. 2 invites the attention of the Court to Rule 14 of the Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation of Allotment of Property in Market Yards) Rules, 2004 (for short, 'the Rules') to contend that as per the said Rule the Market Committee is required to allot weigh bridges on leave and licence basis through tender -cum -auction to the highest bidder and the initial allotment shall be for a period of 11 months which may be renewed by the market committee for every 11 months subject to a maximum of 55 months. He points out that the maximum period of 55 months having admittedly expired, fresh tenders have been called for and in fact, the petitioner has participated in the tender process, but his bid is lesser than the other bidders and therefore, the petitioner cannot now turn around and say that the tender process initiated is bad in law. He also points out from the records secured by him from the 2nd respondent that on 25.04.2013, the 2nd respondent has passed another resolution for allotting the weigh bridge by calling for tenders.