IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) PRESENT: THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY THURSDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF JUNE, TWO THOUSAND NINE ONLY WRIT PETITION No.27197 of 2008 Between: Shoba Bai and nine others. … Petitioners And Agricultural Market Committee, Gaddiannaram, Hyderabad, reptd., by its Chairman. … Respondent Counsel for the petitioner: Sri P.Gangaiah Naidu, Senior Counsel for Sri N.Bharat Babu. Counsel for the respondents: Sri V.V.N.Narayana Rao. This Court made the following: ORDER:- In this Writ Petition, the only grievance of the petitioners is that the respondent-Market Committee has not been receiving their applications for grant of licenses under 7(1) of the A.P. (Agricultural Produce and Livestock) Markets Act, 1966 (for short “the Act”). At the hearing, Sri P.Gangaiah Naidu, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioners, placed reliance on order dated 12-3-2007 in Writ Petition No.4169 of 2007, wherein this Court held as under: “ Section 7 of the Act, mandates that no person shall carry on trade in the notified market areas, without possessing a licence. The Act as well as the Rules made thereunder prescribe the procedure for processing the applications and grant of licences. The applications filed by the petitioners before the writ petition was presented, did not accord with the prescribed form. For this reason, the petitioners have forwarded their applications in the prescribed form, including the demand draft for the stipulated fee. The applications are yet to reach the office of the respondent. Under Rule 48 of the Andhra Pradesh (Agricultural Produce and Livestock) Market Rules, 1969, the Market Committee is placed under obligation to dispose of the application within 45 days. Therefore, the Writ Petition is disposed of, directing the respondent to process the applications of the petitioners, in accordance with law, as soon as they are received. The action thereon shall be concluded as early as possible and not later than 45 days from the date of receipt of the applications. There shall no order as to costs”. There is a dispute as to the factum of submission of applications by the petitioners. While the petitioners claim that when they sought to make the applications, they were not received by the respondent; the learned Standing Counsel for the respondent submitted that no such applications were given by the petitioners. Since there is a statutory obligation on the part of the respondent-Market Committee to receive and consider the applications for grant of licenses, the petitioners are permitted to submit their applications to the Chairman of the respondent-Market Committee. On receipt of the applications, they shall be processed and disposed of by the respondent-Committee, in accordance with Section 7 of the Act, read with Rule 48 of the Rules. Subject to the above directions, the Writ Petition is disposed of. ------------------------------------ C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY,J Date:25-6-2009 MNR