SHIVDEV SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Prayer in the present writ petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India by 7 petitioners, is for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari, for quashing the action of the State Government whereby the duly conducted selection process for appointment to the posts of Members of District Consumer Forums which was initiated on the advertisement dated 15.12.2018 (Annexure P-2) was scrapped allegedly arbitrarily in a completely illegal manner without there being any justifiable and cogent reason.

(2.) Further directions are sought for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus to grant appointment to the petitioners as Members of the District Consumer Forums by issuing the requisite notification as the selection process has already been done by the statutory Selection Committee constituted as per the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (for short, the '1986 Act') and the Punjab Consumer Protection (Appointment, Salary, Allowances and Conditions of Service of President and Members of the State Commission and District Forum) Rules, 2018 (for short, the '2018 Rules').

(3.) It is the admitted case that the petitioners' names had been recommended after proper selection for appointment by respondent No.2, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab vide its letter dated 23.12.2019 (Annexure P-7) on the basis of which the prayer is sought for. It is pertinent to notice that in the present writ petition, notice was issued on 27.08.2020 along with notice regarding stay and during the pendency of the writ petition, after filing of the written statement on 09.12.2020, an order dated 01.12.2020 (Annexure A-1) is reported to have been passed by respondent No.1 whereby the decision to cancel the recruitment of Members has been taken and to initiate the recruitment process again. The same having been passed during the pendency of the writ petition and not having been relied upon in the written statement, has, thus, been assailed by counsel for the petitioners and it is prayed that the same be quashed.