IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NOS.14754 AND 14755 OF 2009 WRIT PETITION NO : 14754 of 2009 Between: M/s. Sri Srinivasa Rice and General Stores, represented by its Proprietor, Parvathaneni Srinivasa Rao S/o.Nagabhushana Rao Shop No.5, Municipal Shopping Complex, Gajjala Cheruvu, Eluru, West Godavari District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Joint Collector, West Godavari District, Eluru. 2 The District Civil Supplies Officer, Eluru, West Godavari District. 3 The Tahsildar, Eluru, West Godavari District. ..RESPONDENTS WRIT PETITION NO : 14755 of 2009 Between: M/S.LAVANYA ENTERPRISES Rep.by its Proprietor Bandaru Satnarayana,S/o. Naganna D.No.70-4-8/1 Gajjala Cheruvu, Eluru, West Godavari District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Joint Collector, West Godavari District, Eluru. 2 The District Civil Supplies Officer, Eluru, West Godavari District. 3 The Tahsildar, Eluru, West Godavari District. ..RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioners:MR.VENKATESWARA RAO GUDAPATI Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR CIVIL SUPPLIES The Court made the following : COMMON ORDER: In these two writ petitions, which raise common issues, the grievance of the petitioners is that their applications for release of seized stock were not considered before respondent No.1 passed orders directing sale of the seized stocks. The petitioners filed separate affidavits of their counsel Sri Narukulla Krishna Murthy, wherein he stated that he filed applications for release of the seized stock before respondent No.1 on 13.07.2009 and 15.07.2009 respectively. It is also stated in his affidavits that there is no practice of giving acknowledgment in the Office of respondent No.1 evincing receipt of such applications. In the light of the said affidavits, this Court adjourned the cases to enable the learned Government Pleader for Civil Supplies to seek instructions from the respondents on the claim of the counsel for the petitioners, who appeared before respondent No.1 on the above mentioned claims. Today, the learned Government Pleader submitted that it was a fact that the applications for release of stocks were presented in the Office of respondent No.1 on behalf of the petitioners, but they were not placed before respondent No.1, before the impugned orders were passed by him. Inasmuch as the fact of the petitioners filing applications for release is admitted, the petitioners cannot be held responsible for the lapse, if any on the part of the Office of respondent No.1 for not placing those applications before him. Therefore, the orders passed by respondent No.1 directing sale of seized commodities without respondent No.1 considering the petitioners’ applications for release of seized stock cannot be sustained in law. The writ petitions are, therefore, allowed. The orders, passed by respondent No.1, impugned in these writ petitions are set aside. Respondent No.1 is directed to consider and dispose of the petitioners’ applications in accordance with law, in the light of the material, if any placed by the petitioners, before taking a decision on the disposal of the seized stock. Before parting with these cases, I deem it appropriate to observe that the practice of receiving applications without proper acknowledgments cannot be appreciated. Respondent No.1 is a statutory authority, which is charged with the responsibility of entertaining the applications from the aggrieved parties under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (for short “the Act”). The powers exercised by him under Section 6-A of the Act are quasi judicial in nature. Therefore, a proper procedure is required to be evolved to entertain and dispose of the applications, while exercising such powers under Section 6-A of the Act. The Director and Commissioner of Civil Supplies of Andhra Pradesh is directed to issue appropriate instructions to all the Collectors exercising the powers under Section 6-A of the Act laying down the proper procedure for receiving and disposing of the applications under Section 6-A of the Act. C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY, J Dated 24th July, 2009 Note: 1. Issue C.C by 28.07.2009 2. Registry to send a copy of this order to the Director & Commissioner of Civil Supplies of Andhra Pradesh, forthwith. vrn