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I N THE HI GH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD

HON’BLE MRS. JUSTI CE SUREPALLI NANDA

WRI T PETI TI ON No.9597 of 2026

DATE: 31.03.2026

Betw een :

Machannagari Laxma Reddy …Petitioner

And The State of Telangana,

Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies

(CS-1) Department Secretariat, Hyderabad and others

…Respondents

ORDER

Heard Sri M.V. Hanumantha Rao, learned counsel

appearing on behalf of the petitioner and the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Civil Supplies

appearing on behalf of the respondents.

2. The petitioner approached the Court seeking

prayer as under:

“…to issue Writ, order or direction preferably Writ of mandamus, declaring the Order dt. 10-3-2026

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2 SN,J W.P.No.9597 of 2026

vide proc. No. E/473/2026 passed by the respondent no.3 suspending the authorization of the petitioner's fair price shop no.6 of Dhobipet (v) Shankerpally (M) Ranga Reddy District, as illegal, arbitrary, and in violation of principles of Natural Justice and consequently set aside the said order and pass other order or order(s) as this court deems fit and proper in

the interest of Justice.”

3. The case of the petitioner in brief as per the averments made in the affidavit filed by the petitioner

in support of the present Writ Petition is as under:-

i) The petitioner is a Fair Price Shop dealer of Shop No.6 at Dhobipet Village, Shankerpally Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, and has been running the shop for about 16 years under a valid authorization issued under Clause 5 of the A.P. State Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2008,

without any complaints.

ii) While so, a criminal case in Crime No.94/2026 was registered against the petitioner by Shankerpally Police Station in connection with an alleged road accident occurred on 09.03.2026, in which the petitioner was later enlarged on

bail on 13.03.2026.

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3 SN,J W.P.No.9597 of 2026

iii) However, without issuing any show cause notice or conducting any enquiry, the respondent No.3, by order dated 10.03.2026, suspended the petitioner’s authorization solely on the ground of registration of the said criminal case and temporary inability to perform duties. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner approached this Court by filing the

present writ petition.

PERUSED THE RECORD:

A) The relevant portion of the impugned order vide proceedings No. E/ 473/ 2026 dated 10.03.2026 passed by Respondent No.3-the Revenue Divisional Officer, Chevella Division, Ranga Reddy District, is

extracted hereunder:

“Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the dealer of nearby Fair Price Shop No.07 Sri. MD Ayub Jhan S/o Mohd Ghouse Khan Dhobipet Village of Shankerpally Mandal who is nominated person shall look after the operations of Fair Price Shop No.06 Dhobipet Village Village of Shankerpally Mandal as In-charge dealer temporarily until further orders. The In-charge dealer shall distribute the essential commodities strictly in

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4 SN,J W.P.No.9597 of 2026

accordance with the Public Distribution System norms and maintain all prescribed registers and

records properly.

The Tahsildar, Shankarpally Mandal shall supervise the functioning of the shop and ensure that the distribution of commodities to all eligible ration card holders is carried out without any

Interruption.

These orders shall come into force with immediate effect and remain valid until further

orders.”

DI SCUSSI ON AND CONCLUSI ON:

4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner mainly puts forth the follow ing

submissions:

4.1 The impugned order dated 10.03.2026, vide proceedings No. E/473/2026, passed by Respondent No.3, suspending the authorization of the petitioner’s Fair Price Shop No.6 at Dhobipet Village, Shankerpally Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, is illegal, arbitrary, and in violation of the

principles of natural justice.

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4.2 The pendency of a criminal case against the petitioner cannot be a ground to deprive the petitioner of the right to run the fair price shop, as t

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