ADARSH GRAM PANCHAYAT STARIYA MAHILA Vs. SDO, NIWARI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition was filed in the year 2001 challenging the order -dated 31.3.2001 ­ Annexure P/9 passed by the Sub Divisional Officer, Niwari and an order -dated 24.2.2001 passed by the District Yojana Samiti, Tikamgarh in the matter of cancelling the fair price shop license granted to the petitioner society in Gram Panchayat Area Sakera Bhandaran, Block Prithvipur, District Tikamgarh.

(2.) PETITIONER claims to be a Society registered under the MP Cooperative Societies Act and they were granted the license to run the fair price shop in accordance to the statutory scheme namely the MP (Khadya Padarth) Sarvajanik Nagrik Purti Vitran Scheme, 1991, formulated under the MP Food Stuff and Distribution Control Order, 1960. It is the case of the petitioner that finding the petitioner to be fulfilling all the requirements as was contemplated in the Scheme of 1991, the fair price shop in question was granted to them. However, after the fair price shop was granted in accordance to the requirement of the Scheme, it seems that a Citizen Charter was implemented wherein in the matter of establishment of fair price shops certain powers were given to the District Planning Board. In the Citizen Charter, it was indicated that in the rural areas preference should be given to Service Cooperative Societies instead of giving preference to Sahkari Bhandar like the petitioner namely Private Societies. Based on the recommendations and stipulations contained in

(3.) THE main ground canvassed is that the Citizen Charter is an Executive Instruction, administrative in nature, and when the statutory scheme of 1991 contemplates a procedure for grant of license to run fair price shop and when license has been granted to the petitioner in accordance to the said statutory scheme, cancellation of the license based on Executive Instruction is said to be unsustainable. It was emphasized by Shri R.K. Samaiya that when the Scheme in question was still in existence when the impugned action was taken, the action of interfering into the matter based on the Executive Instructions was unsustainable. Learned counsel further invites my attention to a judgment rendered by a Division Bench of this Court at Gwalior, on 2.12.2012, in Writ Appeal No. 52/2012 (Shaktipunj Anusuchit Jati Mahila Bauddesiya Sahakari Sansthan Maryadit Gram Panchayat Diadari Vikas Khand Ashok Nagar Vs. State of MP and others) to say that the license granted to the petitioner under the Scheme of 1991 cannot be cancelled.