HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO. 14669 OF 2009 ORDER: The petitioners, the fair-price shop dealers of Kotha Cheruvukommupalem village and Ravvavaram village in Nujendla Mandal, Guntur District, assailed the proposed bifurcation of their fair-price shops under the proceedings dated 15.12.2004 issued by the District Collector, Guntur. It was their grievance that though the said proceedings were issued as long back as in the year 2004, they were only sought to be implemented in the year 2009. They challenged the said proceedings on the ground that the proposed bifurcation of their fair-price shops was contrary to the rationalisation guidelines framed in G.O.Ms.No.35, Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies (CS-1) Department dated 17.09.2007. 2. This Court, by order dated 24.08.2009, granted interim stay of bifurcation of the petitioners’ fair-price shops. WVMP.No.2236 of 2010 is filed by the respondent authorities to vacate the said order. 3. With the consent of the counsel, the main writ petition is taken up for disposal. 4. The proceedings dated 15.12.2004 issued by the District Collector, Guntur, proposed bifurcation of various fair-price shops, including those of the petitioners, on the basis of the statistics obtaining at that point of time. Further, in the year 2007 the Government of Andhra Pradesh, taking note of the fact that there was no uniformity in attachment of BPL and APL cards to the fair-price shops under the existing guidelines ordered for rationalisation of existing fair-price shops in the State by prescribing fresh guidelines in G.O.Ms.No.35 dated 17.09.2007. The said guidelines were directed to be scrupulously followed in the rationalisation of fair-price shops. In so far as rural areas are concerned, Clause 6(v) of the G.O reads as under:- “Rural areas:- Each Gram Panchayat (v) should have at least one F.P. shop with a minimum of 400 BPL cards and 50 APL cards. In case, there are more number of cards in excess of the minimum number of cards i.e.400 BPL and 50 APL in a village there can be two FP shops, provided the total number of BPL cards in that village is not less than 600 and the number of BPL and APL cards should be attached to the two Fair Price Shops equally.” 5. In the light of the aforestated revised guidelines, the bifurcation proposed under the proceedings dated 15.12.2004, being prior in point of time, cannot be given effect unless such bifurcation satisfies the requirements of Clause 6(v) aforestated. The counter filed by the respondents indicates that even in the year 2009, so far as the fair- price shop in Kotha Cheruvukommupalem village is concerned, the total number of white cards (BPL cards) is only 590. Further, the pink cards (APL cards) are stated to be 27. Clause 6(v) of G.O.Ms.No.35 dated 17.09.2007 stipulates a minimum of 50 APL cards and 400 BPL cards in a village for undertaking establishment of two fair-price shops with a further rider that the total number of BPL cards in such village should be not less than 600. The 1st petitioner’s fair-price shop in Kotha Cheruvukommupalem village does not satisfy this requirement both in respect of BPL as well as APL cards. Therefore, no second fair-price shop could have been proposed for Kotha Cheruvukommupalem village even in the year 2009. 6. In so far as the 2nd petitioner’s fair-price shop in Ravvavaram village is concerned, the counter affidavit indicates that in the year 2009, the number of white cards (BPL cards) is 755, which satisfies the requirement under Clause 6(v) of G.O.Ms.No.35 dated 17.09.2007, but the pink cards (APL cards) are shown to be NIL. Unless a minimum of 50 APL cards are available in the village, no second fair-price shop is contemplated under Clause 6(v) of the G.O. The G.O makes it clear that the economic viability of the fair-price shop is also one of the relevant factors in the process of rationalization of the distribution system. That being so, once the fair-price shop at Ravvavaram village did not fulfill the requirement which is considered a minimum for establishing a second fair-price shop, its proposed bifurcation does not stand to reason. The bifurcation of the petitioners’ shops proposed under the impugned proceedings dated 15.12.2004, sought to be given effect in the year 2009, is therefore legally unsustainable. 7. The writ petition is accordingly allowed setting aside the proceedings dated 15.12.2004 in so far as it pertains to the petitioners’ fair price shops. In the light of this final order, no further orders are required in the miscellaneous petitions filed in this writ petition, which are accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs. ________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J June 27, 2011 SP HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO. 14669 OF 2009 June 27, 2011 SP