IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH : AMARAVATI
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUP KUMAR GOSWAMI, CHIEF JUSTICE
&
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. PRAVEEN KUMAR
WRIT APPEAL No.309 of 2020
(Taken up through video conferencing)
The Managing Director
Food Corporation of India,
Head Quarters, 16-20, Barakhamba Lane,
New Delhi : 110001 and others.
.. Appellants
Versus
M. Narahari Babu S/o. M.C. Obaiah,
Aged about 59 years, Occ: General Manager (Law)(Retd),
Zonal Office, Food Corporation of India,
Zonal Office, West, Mumbai,
State of Maharastra, and others.
.. Respondents
Counsel for the appellants : Mr. P. Veera Reddy, Sr. Counsel assisted by Mr. Maheswara Rao Kuncheam Counsel for respondent No.1 : Mr. G. Vidya Sagar, Sr. Counsel assisted by Mr. K. Muralidhar Reddy Counsel for respondent Nos.2&3 : GP for Social Welfare ORAL JUDGMENT Dt: 11.02.2021 per Arup Kumar Goswami, CJ Heard Mr. P. Veera Reddy, learned senior counsel assisted by Mr. Maheswara Rao Kuncheam, learned counsel for the appellants.
Also heard Mr. G. Vidya Sagar, learned senior counsel assisted by Mr. K. Muralidhar Reddy, learned counsel for respondent No.1-writ petitioner, and the learned Government Pleader for Social Welfare for respondent Nos.2 and 3.
2 HCJ & CPK,J
W.A.No.309 of 2020
This writ appeal is presented against an order dated 21.07.2020 passed by a learned single Judge in W.P.No.10185 of 2020.
Perusal of the record goes to show that the caste certificate of respondent No.1-writ petitioner was cancelled by the Collector and District Magistrate, Chittoor, against which an appeal was preferred by respondent No.1-writ petitioner before the Appellate Authority. On dismissal of the said appeal by the Appellate Authority, respondent No.1- writ petitioner filed W.P.No.25140 of 2017, wherein an interim order was passed by this Court on 28.07.2017, suspending the order of the Appellate Authority. When a departmental enquiry was initiated against respondent No.1-writ petitioner on the basis of the order of the Appellate Authority, which has been suspended by this Court, respondent No.1-writ petitioner filed W.P.No.10185 of 2020. The said writ petition was disposed of by the order under challenge and the operative portion of the said order reads as under:
"Hence, on the face of it, the impugned action of the 3rd respondent based on the order of the Appellate Authority, which is suspended in W.P.No.25140 of 2017, is arbitrary. Consequently, the impugned order dated 02-06-2020 passed by the 3rd respondent is hereby set aside. However, the respondents would be at liberty to take appropriate action at appropriate time, which shall be only after disposal of the Writ Petition No.25140 of 2017."
Challenging the same, the authorities of Food Corporation of India, respondent Nos.3 to 5 in the writ petition, preferred the present appeal.
It is submitted by Mr. P. Veera Reddy, learned senior counsel appearing for the appellants, that though it was recorded in the order 3 HCJ & CPK,J W.A.No.309 of 2020 under challenge that the standing counsel for the appellants herein, who were respondent Nos.3 to 5 in the writ petition, was absent despite his name being printed in the cause list, actually, the name of the standing counsel that was printed in the cause list was that of Mr. N. Ashok Anand Kumar, who was not the standing counsel for Food Corporation of India in the State of Andhra Pradesh and he was, in fact, the standing counsel for the said Corporation in the State of Telangana. In the counter-affidavit filed by respondent No.1-writ petitioner, at paragraph 10, it is categorically stated that writ petition papers were not served on Mr. Ashok Anand Kumar, Advocate.
A perusal of the order under challenge goes to show that the learned counsel appearing for the writ petitioner had submitted that W.P.No.25140 of 2017 was coming up for counter of the respondents and without filing counter in the said writ petition, they were initiating action against the writ petitioner.
Our attention was drawn to the array of parties in W.P.No.25140 of 2017. On the face of it, the Food Corporation of India was not a party respondent in the said writ petition and, therefore, the submission that without filing the counter-affidavit in the said writ petition, the appellants are initiating action against the writ petitioner is factually an incorrect submission.
In the aforesaid background, without commenting on the merits of the case, we set aside the order dated 21.07.2020 passed in W.P.No.10185 of 2020 and remand the writ petition to the learned single Judge for fresh consideration. The writ petition shall be listed before the learned single Judge as per roster on 24.02.2021.
4 HCJ & CPK,J
W.A.No.309 of 2020
Accordingly, the writ appeal stands disposed of. No costs. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed.
ARUP KUMAR GOSWAMI, CJ C. PRAVEEN KUMAR, J
IBL
5 HCJ & CPK,J
W.A.No.309 of 2020
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUP KUMAR GOSWAMI, CHIEF JUSTICE & HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. PRAVEEN KUMAR WRIT APPEAL No.309 of 2020 (Per Arup Kumar Goswami, CJ) Dt: 11.02.2021 IBL