MD. MUZAFFAR ALAM Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard learned counsel for the parties.

(2.) Petitioner was a licensee under Bihar Targeted Public Distribution System (for brevity, BTPDS) Control Order, 2016 for running a fair price shop. Alleging violation of the terms of licence, a show cause notice was issued to the petitioner on 23/4/2020 by the Licensing Authority asking him to explain as to why his licence be not cancelled. The petitioner was given time till 26/4/2020 to submit his show cause reply. On 26/4/2020, the Licensing Authority passed an order cancelling the licence recording petitioner's failure to submit his explanation in response to the show cause notice. The said order passed by the Licensing Authority dtd. 26/4/2020 (Annexure 2) is under challenge in the present writ application. It is the petitioner's case that the show cause notice was received by him on 24/4/2020. Before the petitioner could submit his explanation, the impugned order came to be passed on 26/4/2020, in utter haste.

(3.) Mr N K Agrawal, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has submitted that, three days' time granted by the Licensing Authority, cannot be treated to be 'adequate opportunity' given to the petitioner to deal with the allegations made in the show cause notice. He has further submitted that the very fact that only three days, after the issuance of notice, the impugned order, cancelling the petitioner's licence, was passed by the Licensing Authority, demonstrates that the Licensing Authority did not even wait for the petitioner's reply and was pre-determined to cancel the licence.