BAKUL RANI PATRA Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment was made ready before the imposition of lockdown by the government on account of the COVID pandemic. It is now being delivered after proper availability of technical infrastructure to deliver the same. MR dealership granted by the state government is not a heritable right. When an MR dealer dies, a vacancy in the distribution network arises. In the usual course it is filled up by a selection process. However, the legal heir of the deceased distributor is given an option to apply to the government for grant of dealership, in his or her favour, on compassionate ground within or without a specified time limit. The case for compensation is made out if the family is in financial hardship. When such an application is made and the other conditions in the scheme for the grant of dealership in such a contingency are fulfilled, then the government has a discretion to grant the dealership in favour of the legal heir.

(2.) In this case, the legal heir is the mother of the deceased dealer, Sabyasachi Patra. She filed such an application. However, this application was delayed by a few months. On this ground alone her application was not considered by the government.

(3.) In the instant writ application [WP 14866(W) of 2018] the learned single judge by his impugned judgment and order dated 16th August, 2018 dismissed the writ application of the widow on the ground that the time limit of sixty days from the death of the MR dealer specified in the scheme could not be extended on any ground and that the respondent authority was justified in rejecting the delayed application of the appellant/writ petitioner.