Court No. - 29
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 15511 of 2018 Petitioner :- M/S Onasi Cold Storage (Pvt) Limited Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sharad Ranjan Nigam,Vinay Ranjan Nigam Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Govind Mathur,J. Hon'ble Jayant Banerji,J.
This petition for writ is preferred to challenge the order dated 26.10.2017 passed by the District Magistrate, Kasganj rejecting a preliminary objection raised on behalf of the petitioner while pressing an application under Section 25 of the U.P. Regulation of Cold Storages Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as "Act, 1976").
It is submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that as per Section 25 of the Act, 1976, every dispute regarding compensation payable by licensee shall be referred to the Licensing Officer, and subject to the result of appeal, if any, under Section 36, the order of Licensing Officer shall be final. A dispute regarding compensation as per Section 25 is required to be referred to the Licensing Officer. It is stated that District Magistrate is having no authority to decide the dispute as per Section 25 of Act, 1976 being not a Licensing Authority. The District Magistrate, as such, erred while rejecting the petitioner's preliminary objection regarding maintainability of the dispute before him.
We do not find any merit in the argument advanced.
As already stated, the dispute with regard to compensation is required to be referred to the Licensing Officer. The term "Licensing Officer" is defined under clause (g) of Section 2 of the Act, 1976 that reads as follows:-
"2(g) "Licensing Officer" means the Director of Horticulture and Fruit Utilization, Uttar Pradesh, and except in the Explanation to Section 17, includes:-
(1) any other officer of the Horticulture Department, not below the rank of District Horticulture Officer;
(2) an officer of the Revenue Department, not below the rank of a Sub-divisional Officer."
Clause (g) of Section 2 of the Act, 1976 in a quite specific term mentions that an Officer of Revenue Department not below the rank of Sub Divisional Magistrate is a Licensing Officer. The Divisional Magistrate is an Officer of the Revenue Department and is an Officer at higher pedestal in administrative hierarchy than the Sub Divisional Magistrate. As such, as per Act, 1976, he is a Licensing Officer and is entitled to adjudicate the dispute as per Section 25 of the Act, 1976. No error has been committed by the District Magistrate under the order impugned that may warrant interference by this Court. The writ petition, hence, is dismissed.
Order Date :- 30.4.2018 Shubham .
(Jayant Banerji,J.) (Govind Mathur,J.)