ALLIED AND CHEMICALS Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is "aggrieved by the order dated 22.6.2007 (Annexure -1) passed by the Licensing Authority -cum -Joint Director, Agriculture (Plant Protection), Bihar, Patna by which for the reasons stated therein he has cancelled the Insecticides licence.

(2.) STATE has filed a counter affidavit and rejoinder has also been filed alongwith the supplementary affidavit. Heard the parties and with their consent this application is being disposed of at the stage of admission itself.

(3.) MR . N.K. Agrawal, learned senior counsel appearing in support of the writ petition submits that firstly in terms of Section 14 of the Insecticides Act, 1968 before an insecticide licence can be cancelled, the license holder may be given an opportunity of showing cause. In the present case, admittedly, no proceedings were at all initiated much less notice issued and as such the order being in violation of principle of natural justice is void ab initio. He secondly submits that reading the order as a whole, it would appear that there is no specific contravention mentioned therein. It is too vague and uncertain. The order canceling license cannot be uncertain and in vague term. Lastly, he submits that the additional ground now being disclosed in the counter affidavit for cancellation of licence being that it was wrongly granted by the Joint Director, Agriculture (Plant Protection), Bihar, Patna for which petitioner and the then Joint Director were being prosecuted cannot be taken note of as a quas/ ' -judicial order has to stand on its own and cannot be supplemented or supported by reasons given by way of affidavits or otherwise.