-Report by Anurag Sinha
The present case of Gurjit Singh (D) Through LRs…Versus Union Territory, Chandigarh & Ors., is based on a dispute between a tenant and a landlord. Both of them had marketing licenses but after a period of time, the appellant passed an eviction order against the respondent. Herein, the respondent moved to another shop but was not granted a license for the same. He later was allotted another shop in front of his previous landlord to which the appellant claimed ownership.
FACTS:
The judgment made by the learned Judge, Mr. J Shah, on23.10.2013 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh, and these sequent order dated 17.12.2013, by which, the Division Bench of the High Court has dismissed the said letters and Patent Appeals. Gurjit Singh, the appellant stated and informed that he had bought Shop no. 27 from the Agricultural Produce Market, Chandigarh and that respondent no. 5 was the tenant of that shop. Both the appellant and respondent no. 5 had market licenses. The appellant evicted respondent no. 5 shortly after. The High Court upheld the eviction. Hence, in 2007, respondentNo. 5 moved as a tenant to Shop No. 12 and applied for a change of address, but it was refused and he was told to surrender his license and apply for a new one. State Agricultural Marketing Board granted the appellant’s fruit/vegetable license. Since then, the appellant runs the business from his Shop No. 27. Respondent No. 5 filed a writ petition with the High Courtchallenging the judgment dated 05.07.2007 that denied his requestto move to Shop No. 12. 05.07.2007 order stayed. The stay was extended until respondent No. 5’s license expired on 31.03.2009. The Market Committee, Chandigarh denied respondent No. 5’slicense renewal application.
Under the order passed by the High Court, respondent No. 5 continued to operate under the former license per the Supreme Court order. That the Licence Committee under Licensing of Auction Platform Regulations, 1981 resolved to allot the platform site based on “One Site One Shop” and listed respondent No. 5 as co-allottee with the appellant.
Aggrieved by this, the appellant filed a writ petition. The HighCourt granted respondent No. 5’s writ petition and renewed his license on 26 September 2011. The High Court further ruled thatrespondent No. 5 can use the platform in front of Store No. 27unless the Act or Regulations are amended to provide alternativeplatform rights. The knowledgeable Single Judge also found thatthe right to utilize the platform and the license to do business in the market region were distinct and unrelated.
APPELLANT’S CONTENTIONS:
The appellant herein is doing business, has a license, and is granted shop No. 27, thus he is entitled to the auction platform adjacent to and/or in front of it. Respondent No. 5 is doing business in shop No. 12, therefore not allowing the appellant(s) todo business on the auction platform, which is close
to shop No. 27, and allotting it to him is unjust and arbitrary. Then, the appellant challenged the site co-allotment to respondent No. 5 before the learned Single Judge. If the appellant fails, they cannot be worse off than before filing the writ petition. Hence, Market Committee sheds collapsed on 10.06.2007 and were rebuilt in 2009. Soon thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture, U.T. Chandigarh handed down the principles and rules at the first instance, allottees who were assigned sheds for working previousto the collapse of shed 8 on 10.06.2007 were entitled to shed/space as they existed on that day. The appellant was awarded the license on 16.07.2007, however, the sheds collapsed on 10.06.2007, hencehis case is not covered by the policy. The Market Committee’sallocation of sheds follows the Secretary, Agricultural Department, Chandigarh’s guidelines/policy.
RESPONDENT’S CONTENTIONS:
Respondent No. 5 has had a valid license since 1970 and was operating on the platform when the shed collapsed on 10.06.2007. However, at the time of the allotment of freshly constructed sheds, the firm’s license was not valid owing to non-renewal, and theCommittee’s office was considering granting the license, which was finally granted in February 2010. After the Committee was formed, respondent No. 5, Committee licensee and shed owner before its collapse—was allotted the shed. The above arguments request that the appeals be dismissed.
JUDGMENT:
In view of the above and for the reasons stated above and in absence of any specific rule/regulation to the contrary and when the sheds are allotted as per the principles/guidelines of the Secretary, Agriculture, reproduced hereinabove, and in absence ofany specific rule in favor of the appellant, right to claim the allotment just in front of his shop and/or adjacent to the same and when the allotment in favor of respondent No. 5 is made as per. As both the learned Single Judge and Division Bench of the High Court have rightly held against the appellant and have rightly dismissed the writ petition and appeal. The supreme court was in complete agreement with the view taken by the High Court.
The present appeals lacked merit and were dismissed for the reasons indicated above.
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