PANNALAL GUPTA Vs. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this application the petitioner Pannalal Gupta challenges an order whereby the Deputy Commissioner of Police acting on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Calcutta, has refused to grant police licence under Section 39 of the Police Act, 1866, in respect of a boarding house belonging to the petitioner and situated at 4, Sudder Street, Calcutta.

(2.) In the petition the petitioner has specifically challenged the order as being arbitrary and has also stated that the respondent has failed to apply his mind on the question of grant of licence of the petitioner in the application.

(3.) In spite of such specific challenges being thrown, the affidavit-in-opposition filed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, who had passed the impugned order, does not disclose any reason which impelled him to refuse the licence in the instant case. There is in the affidavit a statement in which he craves reference to certain records. No records have been however produced before me at the time of hearing of this application. Therefore, in my view, the challenge thrown by the petitioner has not been answered by the respondent either on affidavit or otherwise.