HOTEL CAFE ROYAL Vs. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD counsel for the parties. Rule. Mr. Bhosale, AGP waives notice for the respondents. Rule made returnable forthwith as short question is involved.

(2.) THIS petition takes exception to the order passed by the Minister (Home) dated 23rd January 2008 in Appeal No. Reh. 01/2007/101/spl. 5 whereby the said appeal preferred by the petitioner has been dismissed upholding the order passed by the first authority dated 3rd November 2007 directing suspension of petitioners license for a period of thirty days. For the nature of order that I propose to pass, it is not necessary to advert to all the events that have led to filing of present petition. In my opinion, the order passed by the appellate authority will have to be set aside and the petitioner relegated before the appellate authority for reconsideration of the appeal afresh in accordance with law. It is necessary atleast for two reasons.

(3.) THE first grievance of the petitioner is that although paragraph 2 of the show cause notice refers to three sets of different criminal cases, however, the authority was conscious of the fact that first two cases cannot be taken into account as the petitioner has been acquitted of those criminal cases. Nevertheless, the appellate authority has confirmed the order passed by the first authority while taking into account even those two cases which were rightly excluded by the first authority from consideration. That position emerges from discussion in paragraph 7 of the impugned order passed by the appellate authority. This is, by itself, a good ground for setting aside the order of the appellate authority.