IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY NINETH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 21429 of 2008 Between: Atti Venkat Rao S/o.Sri Achaiah R/o.Kotha Edhara village, Agiripalli Mandal Krishna District ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Tahsildar, Agiripalli Mandal, Krishna District 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Nuzvid, Krishna 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 to issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropraite writ order or direction declaring the proceedings Rc.B.336/08 Dated 22.8.2008 issued by the ﬁrst respondent as illegal,arbitrary, and without jurisdiction and set aside the same Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.C.RAGHU Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR CIVIL SUPPLIES The Court made the following Order: THE HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.21429 of 2008 ORDER: The petitioner herein is the authorized dealer of the fair price shop of Kotha Edhara Village, Agiripalli Mandal, Krishna District. This writ petition is ﬁled seeking a declaration that the order passed by ﬁrst respondent – Tahsildar, Agiripalli Mandal, dated 22.08.2008, thereby suspending the authorization of the petitioner, is arbitrary and illegal. It is primarily contended by the petitioner that the impugned order of suspension without giving any opportunity to the petitioner to make his representation against the impugned action is arbitrary, illegal and in violation of the principles of natural justice. A perusal of the impugned order itself shows that the authorization of the petitioner was suspended as a substantive punishment. If that be so, the principles of natural justice require a prior notice to the petitioner and due enquiry into the correctness of the allegations made against him. Since no such procedure has been followed, the impugned order is in violation of the principles of natural justice and accordingly it is liable to be set aside on that ground alone. In the result, the impugned order dated 22.08.2008 is set aside and the writ petition is disposed of leaving it open to the respondents to initiate fresh proceedings following due process of law. No costs. _____________ (G. ROHINI, J) 29th September, 2008 Note: Issue CC in two days. (B/O) GHN To 1 The Tahsildar, Agiripalli Mandal, Krishna District 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Nuzvid, Krishna District 3 2CCs to GP for Civil Supplies. 4 2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{TRK}