# Imran Khan v. State of U.P. And Ors

- **Citation:** (2019) 3 ILRA 1380
- **Court:** High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
- **Decided:** 2019-07-31
- **Bench:** Siddhartha Varma
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/allahabad-high-court/imran-khan-v-state-of-u-p-and-ors-44702
- **Pages:** 3

## Headnote

A. Constitution of India - Art. 14 -
Natural Justice - Suspension - Fair price
shop licence of Society - Government
order dated 09.01.1981 - Justification of
condition to remove petitioner from
sales person - Provision under which, the
authority had asked the agent to be
removed from being sales person is not
clear - No fault found with the working
of society and, no charges levelled
against society - Condition to remove
petitioner as a sales man quashed.
 (Para 3, 4 & 6)

Writ Petition allowed (E-1)

## Text

1380 INDIAN LAW REPORTS ALLAHABAD SERIES
question whether non disclosure of NCR
would amount to violation of the
conditions for grant of fair price shop
license requires consideration in the
present case. We consider that as far as
the NCR is concerned it is not necessary
that the petitioner might be aware of any
such NCR registered against him and it
has no where come either in the show
cause notice, or in the final order passed
by the authority that the petitioner had the
knowledge
of
NCR
registered
on
17.07.2008 against him and yet he
concealed this fact. It has also not come
anywhere as to what is the exact date of
grant of fair price shop license to the
petitioner so that it cannot be examined
and be verified as to whether the NCR
dated 17.07.2008 was registered against
the petitioner after the agreement or
before, besides the fact that mere
registration of an NCR also would not
hold the petitioner guilty of offence
complained of.

21. In view of the above, writ
petition succeeds and is allowed. The
order dated 31.07.2008 passed by the
Sub-Divisional
Magistrate,
Etah
is
quashed. The petitioner is running the fair
price shop under the interim order of this
Court dated 21.08.2008, shall continue to
run the same as a consequence to this
order and is entitled to lift the essential
commodities
as
per
the
agreement
reached with the respondents for running
the fair price shop in question.
----------

(2019)11ILR A1380

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
CIVIL SIDE
DATED: ALLAHABAD 31.07.2019

BEFORE
THE HON'BLE SIDDHARTHA VARMA, J.

Civil Misc. Writ Petition No.- 44132 of 2017

Imran Khan ...Petitioner
Versus
State of U.P. And Ors. ...Respondents

Counsel for the Petitioner:
Sri Syed Mohammad Abbas Abdy

Counsel for the Respondents:
C.S.C., Sri Lalit Kumar Tripathi

A. Constitution of India - Art. 14 -
Natural Justice - Suspension - Fair price
shop licence of Society - Government
order dated 09.01.1981 - Justification of
condition to remove petitioner from
sales person - Provision under which, the
authority had asked the agent to be
removed from being sales person is not
clear - No fault found with the working
of society and, no charges levelled
against society - Condition to remove
petitioner as a sales man quashed.
 (Para 3, 4 & 6)

Writ Petition allowed (E-1)

(Delivered by Hon'ble Siddhartha Varma, J.)

1. The petitioner was appointed as a
salesman by the District Cooperative
Development Federation Limited, Jhansi,
on 15.09.2009 to run a fair price shop
named as Itwariganj fair price shop.
When on 14.03.2016 certain complaints
were
made,
action
was
taken
on
28.03.2016 and the society?s license to
run the fair price shop was suspended and
the shop was attached to the fair price
shop of one Babu Khan. On 28.03.2016
itself a First Information Report was also
lodged.

2.

Thereafter
investigation
commenced and on 06.02.2017 in the
criminal proceedings a final report was
3 All. Imran Khan Vs. State of U.P. And Ors.
1381
filed. In the mean time, the petitioner as a
salesman filed an appeal against the order
dated 28.03.2016 and the appeal was
allowed on 23.11.2016 and the matter was
remitted to the District Supply Officer.
Thereafter, a notice was issued to the
petitioner on 01.05.2017 with a direction
that the petitioner had to submit his reply
to the notice dated 21.09.2016. The
petitioner, thereafter, submitted his reply
on 03.05.2017. The order, thereafter,
which
was
passed
on
13.09.2017,
however, found that the allegations
against the shop were misfounded but it
was stated in the order that the license
would be restored only if the Cooperative
Society changed its salesman. Further
condition which was imposed was that the
security which was deposited by the
society would be forfeited.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner
submits that when by the order dated
13.09.2017 the District Supply Officer
had restored the shop then he could not
have imposed the two conditions namely,
that the society had to change its
salesman and also that the shop would be
restored only if the security was forfeited.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits
that the District Supply Officer exceeded
his jurisdiction when he passed the order,
as even though the petitioner was replying
on behalf of the society it was not the
petitioner who was given the show cause
notice with regard to the malfunctioning
of the shop.

4. Learned counsel relying on
Clause 12 (8) of the Government Order
dated 09.01.1981 states that such agents
which were Cooperative Societies, if were
found to be on the wrong then their
licenses could be cancelled by the
Assistant Registrar of societies after
giving them a notice. In the instant case
the petitioner who was a salesman had
been asked to be removed by the District
Supply Officer and thereafter the license
of the agent (the cooperative society) has
been restored. Under which provision the
District Supply Officer had asked the
agent to be removed from being a sales
person is not clear.

5. Learned Standing Counsel, in
reply, further submitted that the petitioner,
in fact, was running the shop and,
therefore, he himself had to suffer as a
salesman.

6. Having heard the learned counsel
for the petitioner, learned counsel for the
society, Sri Lalit Kumar Tripathi and the
Learned Standing Counsel, I am of the
view that when the order was passed by
the District Supply Officer that the shop
was being restored then the condition that
the petitioner had to be removed from
being a salesman and that the security had
to be forfeited was not warranted. This
order also could not have been passed as
no fault was found with the working of
the society and no charges as were
levelled against the society were proved.
However, since the society is not before
me, I only quash the portion of the order
dated 13.09.2017 by which it has been
stated that the license would be restored if
the petitioner is removed as a salesman.
The petitioner would therefore continue
to be the salesman.

7. The writ petition, therefore,
succeeds to the extent indicated above.

8. The writ petition is allowed.
----------
1382 INDIAN LAW REPORTS ALLAHABAD SERIES
(2019)11ILR A1382

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
CIVIL SIDE
DATED: ALLAHABAD 12.09.2019

BEFORE
THE HON'BLE DR. YOGENDRA KUMAR
SRIVASTAVA, J.

Writ C No. 45310 of 2017 connected with
other cases

Nagar Nigam Gorakhpur ...Petitioner
Versus
Suresh Pandey & Ors. ...Respondents

Counsel for the Petitioner:
Sri Sanjay Kumar Tripathi

Counsel for the Respondents:
C.S.C.

A. Civil Law-Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 -
Section 5 - Payment of Gratuity
-
Applicability to Municipal Corporation - All
local
bodies
including
Municipal
Corporations would continue to be covered
by the provisions of the Act unless they are
exempted by the appropriate government
by issuance of a notification as provided for
u/s 5 of the Act. (Para 14 & 56)

B. Civil Law-Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 -
Uniformity of legislation throughout country
- Earlier to it, some States, not all, had
enacted legislations for payment of gratuity
- There was no Central legislation - With
object to ensure a uniformity in payment of
gratuity to the employees throughout the
country. The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
came to be enacted. (Para 25)

C. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 - is a
beneficial piece of legislation enacted to
introduce a scheme for payment of gratuity
for certain industrial and commercial
establishments as a measure social security
- Significance of the legislation lies in the
acceptance of the principle of payment of
gratuity as a compulsory statutory retiral
benefit - Purpose is to provide for benefits
to a workman upon his superannuation or
on his retirement or resignation or on his
death or disablement due to accident or
disease. (Para 58)

D. Civil Law-Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
- Section 5 and section 14 - Only in case a
person holds a post that is governed by
another Act providing for payment of
gratuity, a claim would lie for exclusion of
applicability of the Payment of Gratuity
Act, 1972 i.e. the Central Act. In the
absence of such exemption having been
granted to the Nagar Nigam by State
Government u/s 5, the provisions of the
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 would have
overriding effect by virtue of Section 14.
(Para 13)

E. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 - Section
2(e) - Definition of 'Employee' - It means
any person who is employed for wages in
connection with the work of a factory, mine,
oilfield, plantation, port, railway, company,
shop or other establishment to which
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 applies - It
does not make any distinction between an
employee on the basis of the fact that
employees is paid daily wages or weekly
wages or monthly wages. (Para 13, 20 & 24)

F. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 -
Section 1(3) (b) and (c) - Meaning of
word 'Establishment' - It has wide
meaning to include commercial, public
sector establishment and also noncommercial establishment - Municipal
Council falls within the ambit of S. 1(3)
(b) of the P. G. Act, 1972. (Para no. 33)

G. General Clause Act, 1897 - Section 3
(31) - Meaning of 'Local authority' - It
means Municipal Committee, District
Board etc., which are entrusted with the
control or management of a Municipal or
local fund. (Para 37)

H. Interpretation - Rule of Beneficent
Construction - Application to welfare
legislation - The provisions of Payment
of
Gratuity
Act,
1972
are
to
be
interpreted liberally so as to give it a