( 1 ) MR Nilesh Pandya, learned advocate for the petitioners seeks leave, under instructions of petitioner No. 1, to permit petitioner No. 1 to withdraw from the petition. Leave as prayed for is granted. Accordingly, the petition stands confined to petitioner No. 2 only.

( 2 ) RULE. Mrs VS Pathak, learned AGP for respondent Nos. 1 to 3 and 5, Mr Prakash K Jani for respondent No. 4 APMC and Mr Dipen Desai for respondent No. 6 waive service of rule. Heard the learned advocates appearing for the parties.

( 3 ) BY order dated 13. 8. 2009, we had granted the following interim relief :-

"in view of the recent order dated 11. 8. 2009 of the Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance allowing Appeal Nos. 19 and 20 of 2009 directing APMC, Godhra to grant trader's licence to the petitioners herein i. e. Godhra Taluka Sahkari Kharid Vechan Sangh Ltd. and Panchmahals Jilla Sahkari Kharid Vechan Sangh Ltd. , the Election Officer for elections to APMC, Godhra shall include the petitioners' names in the provisional voters' list to be published on 16. 8. 2009. This shall be done without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties and subject to any further orders which may be passed in the present petition. "

( 4 ) AT the hearing of this petition today, Mr PK Jani, learned advocate for respondent No. 4 and Mr Dipen Desai for the newly added party i. e. applicant of Civil Application No. 8910 of 2009 have opposed the grant of interim relief on the ground that it is only recently by order dated 11. 8. 2009 of the Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance that the petitioner Panchmahals Jilla Sahakari Kharid Vechan Sangh Ltd. has been granted the trader's licence but the election program was already declared in the meantime on 24. 7. 2009 and therefore, the petitioner is not entitled to get its name included in the voters' list. In support of the said submission, strong reliance is placed on the decision of this Court in Kalubhai Ranabhai Akabari Vs. State of Gujarat, 2007 (3) GLH 57.

( 5 ) MR Pandya for the petitioner, however, submits that the petitioner herein was granted trader's licence for a number of years and as recorded in the order of the Appellate Authority, it is indicated in the petitioner's licence passbook that licence was renewed for the years 2002-03 to 2007-08. The licence was being renewed every year. However, for the years 2008-09 and 2009-10, the petitioner had applied for licence on 13. 2. 2009 but the application for renewal of the licence was illegally rejected by the APMC on 11. 4. 2009 and therefore, the petitioner had challenged the said decision in appeal before the Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance. The Director allowed the said appeal being Appeal No. 19 of 2009 by his order dated 11. 8. 2009 and therefore, the appellant cannot be blamed for not getting renewal of the licence before commencement of the election process when the program was declared on 24. 7. 2009 on which date the petitioner's appeal was pending before the Director for about two months and therefore, the petitioner had to seek urgent orders of this Court for expeditious hearing of the appeal.

( 6 ) MR Pandya further submits that Godhra Taluka Sahakari Kharid Vechan Sangh Ltd. which had not applied for renewal of licence for four years has already withdrawn from the petition and that the case of the present petitioner stands on a much higher footing as the present petitioner had its licence renewed for the period upto 31. 3. 2008 and thereafter, it had applied for renewal of the licence before expiry of the year 2008-09.

( 7 ) IN Kalubhai Ranabhai Akabari (supra), we have already held that the relevant date for determining the eligibility for inclusion in the voters' list for elections to the APMC is the date on which the Authorised Officer is to be communicated the names under sub-rule (1) of Rule 7 of the APMC Rules, 1965, that is to say, before that date a trader who has been grant