IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIRCUIT BENCH AT JALPAIGURI CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE BEFORE:

The Honble Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur WPA/1113/2025 MD. ABDUL HAKIM VS.

STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS.

For the petitioner : Mr. Debabrata Saha Roy, Advocate Mr. Pingal Bhattacharyya, Advocate Mr. Shubhankar Das, Advocate Mr. Neil Basu, Advocate Mr. Sankha Biswas, Advocate Ms. Oindrilla Sarkar, Advocate Mr. Avidipta Paul, Advocate For the State : Mr. Joyjit Choudhury, Advocate Mr. Nabankur Pal, Advocate Heard on : 13.05.2026 Judgment on : 22.05.2026 Ravi Krishan Kapur, J.:

1. The petitioner is holding a license for a Fair Price Shop and has been running the dealership for decades in Darjeeling.

2. The crux of the grievance of the petitioner pertains to a show cause notice dated 14 May, 2024 issued by the respondent authorities whereby the petitioner was found to be distributing goods in violation of the West Bengal Public Distribution System (Maintenance and Control Orders 2013) to fictitious individuals whose names had been deactivated from the Digital Ration Card Holders List

3. It is contended by the respondents that 7022 Digital Ration Cards (DRCs) had been deactivated by t