Case: Senior Divisional Commercial Manager &amp;Or Vs. S.C.R Caterers,Dry Fruits,F.J.S.W Associ

Respondents before us are the South Central Railway Caterers, Dry Fruits, Fruit Juice Stalls Welfare Association, (hereinafter referred to as). The members of the Welfare Association were granted licenses for running General Minor Units or Special Minor Units in CategoriesRailway Stations. These licenses were granted in favour of the members of the respondents prior to the creation of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to asunder the Catering Policy, 2005. In terms of the said Policy, the contracts under CategoriesRailway Stations were transferred to the IRCTC while the contracts granted under CategoriesRailway Stations were continued under the control of the South Central Railways till the IRCTC was equipped to take over these units. The contracts held by the members of the Welfare Association were renewed during the subsistence of the Catering Policy, 2005. The said policy was replaced by the Catering Policy, 2010. Under the new Policy, the contracts of all the existing major and minor catering units were to be awarded and managed by the Zonal Railways. The IRCTC was left with the running of the Food Plaza, Food Courts and Fast Food Units only. Pursuant to the Catering Policy, 2010, the South Central Railway granted renewal of licenses in favour of the licensees for a period of three years with effect from 21.07.2010, the date on which the Catering Policy, 2010 was made effective in respect of the General Minor Units (GMUs) and Special Minor Units (SMUs) taken over from the IRCTC, subject to the conditions stipulated in paras 16.1.3 and 16.2.1 of the Catering Policy, 2010. The renewed licenses were to expire on 20.07.2013. On 26.04.2013, the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Vijayawada, issued a bid notice inviting sealed bids on the Single Stage Two-Packet System from food and catering service providers for provision of catering services at the various GMUs of CategoriesRailways Stations in the Vijayawada Division. A similar notification dated 03.05.2013 was issued for establishment of catering stalls/fruits and fruit juice stalls in SMUs inCategory Railway Stations. Aggrieved, the respondent-Association, the members of which had existing licenses, filed a Writ Petition before the single Judge of the High Court of Judicature of Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad. The respondent-Association urged that the said action of inviting fresh bids is discriminatory and also contrary to the provisions of the Catering Policy, 2010. The main plea of the respondent-Association was that in terms of the Catering Policy, 2010, the existing licensees were entitled for renewal of their licenses for a period of three years, subject to their satisfactory performance, payment of all dues and arrears and withdrawal of court cases, if any. They prayed that the appellant be directed to renew the licenses of the existing license holders of the canteens and fruits and fruit juice stalls. Vide judgment and order dated 16.08.2013, the learned single Judge came to the conclusion that the Catering Policy, 2010 did not differentiate among the licensees based on the number of years for which they have been carrying on their business. It was further held that under the Catering Policy, 2010, the license fee is liable to be revised based on the potentiality of each Railway Station and the turnover of the licensees during the previous years. Since the license fee is subject to continuous revision and does not remain stagnant, the question of the Railways suffering any loss due to renewals would not arise. The learned single Judge held that the members of the Welfare Association are entitled for renewal of the licenses of the members subject to their satisfying the conditions stipulated in paras 16.1.3 and 16.2.1 of the Catering Policy, 2010. On appeal filed by the appellants, the judgment and order of the learned single Judge was upheld by the Division Bench of the High Court in the Writ Appeals vide its judgment and order dated 12.09.2013. Hence, the present appeals are filed by the

Reasoning:
24. One more important aspect to be taken note of by this Court is the non governance of railway property in the past 67 years since independence. Though, it is a recognized principle of law that the property of the railways is public property, yet in reality, it is the private players and industries that are allowed to carry on their business for transport of raw materials from one place to another. After the enactment of the Railways Act, 1989, the Rail Land Development Authority has been established under Chapter IIA of the Act to manage the railway property by framing policy or rules for allotment of the same in favour of the licensees, including fixing license fee or occupation charges in respect of the vast extent of vacant property from which huge revenue can be collected, which is a laudable object to cater to the need of the public at large. The periodical revision of license fee in respect of such big operators has not been done by the railways. Also, the Policy of not renewing the licenses of those persons who are members of the respondents are completely dependent on self-earning from these small units and making them participate in a public competition is absolutely unfair, unreasonable and arbitrary. The chances of such persons being deprived of their right to livelihood is also an important factor which has to be taken into consideration by this Court to interpret the policy framed by the appellants. The callous attitude as far as the inaction on the part of the State in tackling the problem of rising unemployment is appalling. The situation is made worse by the handing over of public functions to private entrepreneurs, which then exploit the policies of the government against the poor and downtrodden people of the country. If the appellants under the guise of the policy are permitted to deny renewal of licenses in favour of the licensees, it would amount to deprivation of their right to freedom of occupation guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution as well as the right to livelihood, which action of the appellants would be diametrically opposed to their constitutional duty towards social justice as well as uplifting the weaker sections of the society and the unemployed youth of the country.Keeping in view the evolving concept of social justice, we allow the members of respondents who are the licensees to continue their petty business, especially in the absence of employment potentiality in the country on account of non-governance and non- implementation of the constitutional philosophy of an egalitarian society, which provides the opportunity to all individuals to lead a life of dignity.Therefore, we have to hold that the provisions of the Catering Policy, 2010 are applicable to the concerned respondents. The action of the railways in not granting renewals of the licenses to the members of the respondents is arbitrary, unreasonable, unfair and discriminatory, and the same cannot be allowed to sustain in law.28. For the reasons stated supra, this Court cannot interfere with the impugned judgment and order of the High Court.