2020 Supreme(Raj) 522
RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT
Sangeet Lodha, Rameshwar Vyas, JJ.
Shiv Praksh Puna Ram Gehlot - Appellant
Versus
M/s. Jagdish Sankhla And Company - Respondent
Civil Miscellaneous Leave To Appeal No. 2 of 19; Special Appeal Writ No. 1437 of 2019
Decided On : 18-09-2020
Anand Purohit, Advocate, Himanshu Purohit, Advocate, Rajesh Joshi, Advocate, Manoj Bhandari, Advocate, K.S. Rajpurohit, Advocate, Rajat Arora, Advocate
A provisional list of allottees is subject to the outcome of any pending writ petitions and does not create any rights in favor of the persons included in the list.
Headnote:
IMPLEADMENT - ALLOTMENT OF SHOPS - AGRICULTURE PRODUCE MARKET ACT, 1961 - SECTION 39 - COURT ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION - Applicants' application seeking impleadment as party respondents in writ petitions challenging allotment of shops in new vegetable mandi dismissed - Court held that provisional list of allottees subject to writ petitions - No right created in favor of applicants - Applicants not entitled to oppose writ petitioners' case.
Fact of the Case:
Applicants sought to implead themselves as party respondents in writ petitions challenging the allotment of shops in a new vegetable mandi. The writ petitioners were wholesale dealers in vegetables and had been allotted shops in the fruit mandi instead of the vegetable mandi. The applicants' names were included in a provisional list of allottees for the shops in the vegetable mandi, but the list was subject to the outcome of the writ petitions. The applicants argued that they had a right to be heard in the writ petitions because their rights would be affected by the outcome.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the applicants had no right to be impleaded as party respondents in the writ petitions. The court found that the provisional list of allottees was subject to the outcome of the writ petitions and therefore, no right was created in favor of the applicants. The court also found that the applicants were not entitled to oppose the writ petitioners' case because they had no rival or competitive claim.
Issues: Whether the applicants had a right to be impleaded as party respondents in the writ petitions.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the applicants had no right to be impleaded as party respondents in the writ petitions because the provisional list of allottees was subject to the outcome of the writ petitions and therefore, no right was created in favor of the applicants. The court also found that the applicants were not entitled to oppose the writ petitioners' case because they had no rival or competitive claim.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the applicants' application seeking leave to appeal and the special appeal.
JUDGMENT
Sangeet Lodha, J. - This application (IA No.2/19) seeking leave to appeal is preferred by the applicants to file special appeal against order dated 2.8.19 passed by the learned Single Judge of this Court, whereby the writ petition preferred by inter alia the first respondent herein seeking implementation of order dated 5.12.16 passed by the respondent-Director Agriculture Marketing Board, has been allowed.
2. As a matter of fact, the learned Single Judge vide order dated 5.12.16 has decided bunch of writ petitions, however, the application seeking leave to appeal is preferred by the applicants only against the order impugned passed in S.B.C.Writ Petition No.6320/17.
3. A perusal of the order impugned reveals that while declining the prayer of the applicants herein to implead them as party respondents, the learned Single Judge permitted them to intervene in the matter with the observations as under:
" As per the Policy of 2013, the allotment in new Mandi is firstly required to be made in favour of the persons, who are having shops in Paota Mandi as per Clause 3(7) of the Policy of 2013. In case some plots remain vacant, they are to be allotted to other dealers, operating in Paota mandi, but who are not having shops.
True it is, that the applicant and eight persons have been shown in the list of provisional allottees, but the fact remains that they are not having any shops in the Paota Mandi, for which their cases are required to be considered under clause 3(8) of the Policy of 2013.
As such, applicant has no rival or competitive claim vis a vis the petitioner, who has vied for allotment under clause 3(7) of the Policy. Merely because the petitioner's failure in the present writ petition may result in the applicant's success, it does not give them a right to oppose their case as a respondent. The State as well as Krishi Upaj Mandi Samiti are already there, as respondents to defend their stand. The applicant cannot be heard to support/substantiate the stand of the State.
That apart, the list aforesaid is provisional, is evident from the fact that the State has taken a stand that due to inadvertence, 9 persons' claim could not be reckoned. The respondent No.3 has admitted that in light of the interim order passed in the writ petitions filed by the petitioners, they were required to keep one shop for each of the petitioners vacant/reserved.
In this view of the matter, it is clear that nine shops, which ought to be earmarked or kept vacant for the petitioners, could not be earmarked and the applicant and persons similarly situated to the applicant have been provisionally depicted in the list, which hardly creates any right in their favour. It is to be noticed that the provisional list of merit, has a clear stipulation that the allotment in furtherance of the list will be subject to the present group of writ petitions. Had the respondents obeyed the interim order of this Court in the letter and spirit, surely, their names would not have been there in the list.
Hence, this Court does not deem it appropriate to implead the applicant as a party respondent.
However, since the rights of the applicant may be affected by any order passed in the present writ petitions, this Court deems it appropriate to permit the applicant to intervene."
4. The facts relevant are that the official respondents herein decided to shift Savitri Bai Fulle Krishi Upaj Mandi Samiti (Fal and Sabji), Jodhpur situated at Paota adjacent to the Roadways Bus Stand pursuant to the directions issued by this Court in a Public Interest Litigation. It was decided that the existing licensee carrying on business at Paota Mandi would be shifted to Bhadwasia and the land of Paota Mandi would be handed over to RSRTC, while the land of RSRTC (Depot) existing near Bhadwasia would be handed over to Mandi Samiti for establishment of new Fruit and Vegetables Mandi. As per the decision taken by the State Government, the licensees running wholesale business in vegetables were to