IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE ELEVENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.17607 of 2005 Between: S. Mahender S/o. Muralidhar, R/o. Sultanabad Karimnagar District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Principal Secretary, Department of Medical & Health, Govt. of A.P Secretariat Buildings, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 2 The District Collector, Karimnagar 3 The District Medical & Health Officer, Karimnagar 4 The Station House Officer, Sultanabad Police Station, Sultanabad, Karimnagar District. 5 Mr. Prasad Rao, Medical Officer, Govt. Hospital Post & Mandal, Sultanabad, Karimnagar District. .....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, order or direction more in the nature of writ of mandamus i. declaring the action of the 5th respondent in constructing the shops in the premises of Govt. Hospital, Sultanabad Post and Mandal, Karimnagar Dist., by collecting money from the private individuals without issuing any public notice, as illegal arbitrary. ii. consequently direct the respondents to allot the shops, being constructed in the premises of Govt. Hospital Post and Mandal Sultanabad, Karimnagar District, by issuing public notice and following by a uniform procedure. iii. Direct the 4th respondent to initiate appropriate action against the 5th respondent and all other responsible persons, who are intending to construct the shops in the premises of Govt. Hospital, Post and Mandal Sultanabad, Karimnagar District by registering crime. iv. direct the respondent No.1 to 3 to initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings against 5th respondent for collecting huge sums of money from private individuals and for constructing the commercial complex in the premises of Govt. Hospital, Post and Mandal Sultanabad, Karimnagar District, without issuing any public notice. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.K.VASUDEVA REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR MEDICAL HEALTH & FAMI.WELFARE; GP FOR REVENUE; GP FOR HOME The Court made the following: THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.17607 OF 2005 ORDER: Petitioner is resident of Sultanabad in Karimnagar District. He is aggrieved by action initiated by ﬁfth respondent in construction of fourteen commercial shops in the premises of Government Hospital. He alleges that ﬁfth respondent did not issue any notice inviting applications and he collected money from private individuals for construction of commercial complex, which is illegal and arbitrary. A counter aﬃdavit is ﬁled by third respondent making following averments. It is submitted that, in response to the orders of Collector, Karimnagar sanctioning the construction of shopping complex for construction of 16 shops at Government Hospital, Sulthanabad, the advisory committee passed a resolution on 26.2.2005 and in pursuance of resolution called for the applications for allotment of shops from unemployed youth, Swasakthi Mahila Group members and Rythu Mithra Group members on 28.2.2005 and last date of receipt of applications was ﬁxed 07.3.2005. The notice was aﬃxed on the notice board in Hospital, Gram Panchayat Office, Suthanabad. It is submitted that, in response to the notice, 41 applications from unemployees, Swashakthi Mahila Group members and Rythu Mithra Group members have been received. The applications were scrutinized and 16 beneﬁciaries have been selected among the 41 applications. That on 19.3.2005 the committee after selection of beneﬁciaries it is resolved to collect shopkeepers deposits as per the directions of District Collector, Karimnagar, the amount of Rs.11.00 lakhs have been distributed among 16 beneﬁciaries and Rs.68,750/- to be collected in phase wise. It is also resolved to collect Rs.15,000/- each beneﬁciary under ﬁrst phase and the balance to be collected as per the progress of construction work of shops and the amount collected has been deposited in Andhra Bank, Sulthanabad Branch, in account No.923, which was opened on the name of Advisory Committee. Petitioner has not ﬁled any reply aﬃdavit. Therefore counter averments remained uncontraverted. This shows that though notice was aﬃxed in Government Hospital and Gram Panchayat Oﬃce inviting applications from intending lessees/licensees for allotment of shops, petitioner did not apply and as a belated measure, he chose to ﬁle writ petition. This Court admitted writ petition on 26.6.2006. This Court did not pass any interim order and observed that any allotment of shops will be subject to further orders in the writ petition. After hearing learned Assistant Government Pleader for Medical and Health, this Court is not able to countenance the submission that action taken by ﬁfth respondent for construction and allotment of commercial shops in Government Hospital premises suﬀers from any arbitrariness. Hospital Development Society (HDS) constituted as per G.O.Ms.No.90, dated 17.4.1993, decided to construct commercial shops to augment income of Government Hospital, Sultanabad. In response thereto, ﬁfth respondent took up construction of sixteen shops in the premises of Government Hospital, Sultanabad. At every stage, there was transparency and notice was published in Government Hospital and Gram Panchayat oﬃce, inviting applications. When forty-one applicants applied, it cannot be said that ﬁfth respondent followed pick and choose method by collecting requisite amounts from sixteen beneﬁciaries. A perusal of the counter aﬃdavit shows that Advisory Committee met on 19.3.2005 and decided to collect a sum of Rs.68,750/- from each beneﬁciary phase-wise. Procedure adopted was fair and the same is unexceptionable. The writ petition is devoid of merit and is accordingly dismissed. ______________ (V.V.S.RAO,J) November 11, 2008 YS To 1 The Principal Secretary, Department of Medical & Health, Govt. of A.P Secretariat Buildings, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 2 The District Collector, Karimnagar 3 The District Medical & Health Officer, Karimnagar 4 The Station House Officer, Sultanabad Police Station, Sultanabad, Karimnagar District. 5 Mr. Prasad Rao, Medical Officer, Govt. Hospital Post & Mandal, Sultanabad, Karimnagar District. 6 Two CCs to Government Pleader for Medical, Health and Family Welfare, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad. 7 Two CCs to Government Pleader for Government Pleader for Home, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad. 8 Two CCs to Government Pleader for Revenue, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad. 9 Two C.D. Copies.