IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 16231 of 2008 Between: P.V. Kistaiah S/o. Late P.V. Krishnaiah R/o. Masapet, Kadapa City and District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its District Collector, Kadapa, Kadapa District. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Kadapa, Kadapa District. 3 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Kadapa Mandal, Kadapa District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue an appropriate writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of mandamus declaring the proceedings in Ref. C/330/2008, dated 29.04.2008 issued by the 2nd respondent as arbitrary, illegal, politically motivated, colorable exercise power, contrary to the provisions of the A.P. Public Distribution System Control Order, 2001 and violative of the Principles of Natural Justice apart from bei ng violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the petitioner under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and consequently set aside the same . Counsel for the Petitioner : Mr . V.R.REDDY KOVVURI Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR CIVIL SUPPLIES The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.16231 OF 2008 ORDER : The petitioner is the authorized dealer of Fair Price Shop No.53, Masapet, Kadapa. On the basis of a report submitted by the Tahsildar, Kadapa, the 2nd respondent – Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer – issued a show-cause notice dated 29.4.2008 alleging that during the door-to- door enumeration 53 bogus ration cards belonging to the petitioner’s shop were found and that the petitioner failed to inform the said fact to the concerned authorities and accordingly calling upon him to show-cause within 15 days from the date of receipt of show- cause notice as to why his authorization should not be cancelled. According to the petitioner, the said show-cause notice was served on him on 16.7.2008 and the ﬁfteen days time granted for submitting the explanation would expire on 31.7.2008. However, the impugned order was passed on 22.7.2008 itself cancelling the authorization alleging that though the show-cause notice was served on 19.5.2008, the petitioner failed to submit his explanation within the stipulated period of 15 days. The said order of cancellation dated 22.7.2008 is challenged in this writ petition on the ground that since no opportunity was given to the petitioner to submit his explanation, the impugned order is arbitrary, illegal and in violation of principles of natural justice. In the counter-aﬃdavit ﬁled on behalf of the respondents, the plea of the petitioner that the show-cause notice was served on him on 16.7.2008 has been denied and it is stated that the show-cause notice was actually served on him on 19.5.2008 itself. Having regard to the dispute with regard to the date of service of the show-cause notice on the petitioner, this court called for the record. The record placed before this Court by the learned Government Pleader shows that the show-cause notice was served on 19.5.2008 and the petitioner himself signed on the copy of the show-cause notice acknowledging the receipt of the same. However, the case of the petitioner is that he never put the date while acknowledging the receipt of the show-cause notice. The learned counsel for the petitioner while asserting that the show-cause notice was served on the petitioner only on 16.7.2008 stated that the date as 19.5.2008 might have been inserted subsequently in the office of the respondents. Be that as it may, since admittedly the impugned order of cancellation was passed without considering the petitioner’s version to the allegations made in the show-cause notice, without going into the correctness of the rival claims made by the parties with regard to the date on which the show-cause notice was served, I deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition granting a further opportunity to the petitioner to make his explanation to the allegations in the show-cause notice so that an appropriate order can be passed afresh on merits. Accordingly, the impugned order is hereby set aside and the Writ Petition is disposed of permitting the petitioner to submit his explanation to the show-cause notice dated 22.7.2008 within a period of two weeks from today. If any such explanation is received within the time speciﬁed above, the 2nd respondent shall consider the same and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of four weeks thereafter. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt. 23.10.2008 gbs Note:- CC by tomorrow. (B/o) gbs