Court No. - 54
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 16414 of 2013 Petitioner :- Smt. Padami Respondent :- The State Of U.P. And Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anand Prakash Pandey,Sufiya Bano,Mohd. Akhtar Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Mahesh Narain Singh
Hon'ble Ajit Kumar,J.
Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
By means of the present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, the petitioner has questioned the auction proceedings of fishery lease notified on 12th March, 2013 in respect of the village Gori.
The petitioner raised objection to the effect that earlier pursuant to the auction proceedings held on 4th February, 2013 under the notification dated 18th January, 2013, the petitioner being a highest bidder was allotted the fishery lease and initially he deposited the premium amount for the period of two and half years to the tune of Rs.40,250/- on 4th February, 2013, however, the respondents on their own proceeded to cancel the same by issuing afresh notification dated 12th March, 2013 fixing 20th March, 2013 and it is this order which is under challenge.
The grievance of the petitioner is that once the petitioner was found to be the highest bidder, there was no question of re- auctioning of the pond for fishery lease and the petitioner having deposited the amount and having spent money in the seeds for raising fish, the petitioner should not have been made to suffer any loss.
Per contra, the argument advanced by the learned Standing Counsel is that though the fishery lease were auctioned and the bid was alloted to the petitioner in the proceedings held on 4th April, 2013 but the complaint was received that the petitioner did not come in the preferential category in the allotment of the lease as there were fishermen available and they ought to have been considered for the purposes of fishery lease in priority and thus, the lease awarded to the petitioner came to be cancelled.
On this above argument so advanced from the side of the State by learned Standing Counsel, the petitioner could not dispute that he is by caste a washer man (Dhobi) and, therefore, he would not be falling in the category of the fisherman.
The Government order dated 16th January, 2006 has already been issued in this regard providing for preferential rights for Fishery Co-operative Societies of fishermen and thereafter the villagers belong to the fishermen caste and the said Government order has come to be upheld by the Full Bench of this Court in the case of Ram Kumar and others v. State of U.P. and others; 2006 (62) ALR 65.
The above legal position could not be disputed by the petitioner and, therefore, in the considered opinion of the Court, fishery lease should not have been awarded to the petitioner in the face of the fact that the villagers/ people belonging to the caste of fishermen were available in the village.
This Court, therefore, does not find any good ground to quash the auction proceedings dated 12th March, 2013.
However, since time has already run out, it is hereby provided that the respondent authorities shall proceed the auction the pond afresh for grant of fishery lease by issuing notification afresh within a period of three weeks from the receipt of this order.
Learned Standing Counsel is directed to communicate this order to the District Magistrate, Azamgarh and Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Menhnagar, District- Azamgarh and also Tehsildar Menhnagar, District- Azamgarh within 10 days from today.
It is also left open for the petitioner to participate in the proceedings, however, his claim shall be considered in the order of preference as prescribed for under the Manual as well as the Government Order referred to hereinabove.
The rent of fishery lease deposited by the petitioner pursuant to the earlier allotment on 4th February, 2013 shall be refunded to the petitioner forthwith preferably within a period of three months from the date of production of certified copy of this order.
With the aforesaid observations and directions, the writ petition stands disposed of.
Order Date :- 26.7.2019 Atmesh