IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION NO : 16950 of 2009 Between: Sri Lakshmi Srinivasa Dall Mill, Door No. 17/144-A2-1, Park Road, Nandyal, Kurnool District Rep by its Proprietrix M. Padmavati, W/o. M. Sathyanarayana, Aged about 39 years, Occ : Business, R/o. Nandyal, Kurnool District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by the Collector and District Magistrate, Kurnool. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Nandyal, Kurnool District. 3 The Deputy Tahsildar (CS), Nandyal, Kurnool District. 4 The District Manager, AP State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. Kurnool. .....RESPONDENTS 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 a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or direction declaring the proceedings of the 1st Respondent issued in Rc.CS1/DSO/E.C.No.95/2009 dated 11-8-2009 as illegal, arbitrary and consequently direct the 1st respondent to release the seized stock in favour of the petitioner Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.O.MANOHER REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR CIVIL SUPPLIES The Court made the following : . THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.16950 of 2009 ORDER: This writ petition is filed seeking a Writ of Mandamus declaring the proceedings of the 1st respondent in Rc.CS1/DSO/E.C.No.95/2009 dated 11.08.2009, as illegal and arbitrary and consequently sought for a direction to the 1st respondent to release the seized stock in favour of the petitioner. The petitioner was granted licence in Form-B issued under the provisions of the A.P. Scheduled Commodities Dealers (Licensing, Storage and Regulation) Order, 2008 authorizing him to purchase, sell or store for sale the under mentioned commodities in the licence as retailer and wholesaler and in the licence the place of business has been mentioned as Door No.17/144-A2-1, Park road, Nandyal, Kurnool district. Since the place was insufficient and was causing inconvenience for storing the food grains, the petitioner made an application on 03.08.2009 to the 1st respondent to include the additional place i.e., J.5/1, SBI colony, Nandyal, Kurnool district as godown. While the said application is pending consideration, the 2nd respondent along with the 3rd respondent inspected the godown on 05.08.2009 and found 100 quintals of red-gram loaded in three bullock carts and seized the said stock on the ground that the petitioner has violated the clause 2 (b) of the A.P. Scheduled Commodities Dealers (Licensing, Storage and Regulation) Order, 2008 and thereafter they have inspected the petitioner Mill and verified the stock register and noticed a small variation. Pursuant thereto, on the basis of the report furnished by the 3rd respondent, the 1st respondent initiated proceedings under Section 6-A of the Essential Commodities Act. Subsequently, the 1st respondent passed an order dated 11.08.2009 authorizing the 3rd respondent to take over the possession of the stocks from the custodian and handover the same to the 4th respondent for sale. Hence, the petitioner filed the present writ petition. Heard both sides. Now that the proceedings under Section 6A of the Essential Commodities Act are very much pending before the 1st respondent, this Court is of the view that this writ petition can be disposed of without going into the merits of the case. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of with a direction to the 1st respondent-District Collector to complete the proceedings pending before him under Section 6-A of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 and pass necessary orders thereon, within a period of eight weeks from today. However, since the petitioner made an application on 03.08.2009 to the 1st respondent to include the additional place i.e., J.5/1, SBI colony, Nandyal, Kurnool district as godown in the licence, the seized stock shall be released in favour of the petitioner on condition of the petitioner furnishing bank guarantee in a sum of Rs.15 Lakhs to the satisfaction of the 1st respondent. No order as to costs. _____________________________ (GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA, J) 17-08-2009 Gsn.