Allahabad High Court
Mela Prabandh Samiti vs Zila Panchayat And Another on 23 January, 2020
Bench: Ramesh Sinha, Ajit Kumar
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Court No. - 1 Case :- WRIT - C No. - 2374 of 2020 Petitioner :- Mela Prabandh Samiti Respondent :- Zila Panchayat And Another Counsel for Petitioner :- Prabal Kumar Dixit,Ratnesh Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- Anshu Chaudhary Hon'ble Ramesh Sinha,J.
Hon'ble Ajit Kumar,J.
Heard Sri P.K.Dixit, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Anshu Chaudhary, learned counsel for respondent nos. 1 and 2.
By means of present writ petition, the petitioner has prayed for disposal of pending appeal before the Chairman of the Zila Panchayat, Etawah against the order dated 28.09.2019 whereby petitioner' license to hold the cattle market has been refused.
A preliminary objection has been raised by learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent Zila Panchayat that the Chairman, Zila Panchayat does not enjoy the appellate authority under Section 251 U.P. Kshettra Panchayats and Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam, 1961 (the Act) and since it is matter relating to the license of cattle market, it is covered under Head- D of Section 239 (2) of the Act and, therefore, appeal would be maintainable or before the District Magistrate or the authority designated by the State Government in that behalf under Section 251(2) of the U.P. Kshettra Panchayats and Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam, 1961.
He has further placed reliance upon the judgment of the division bench this Court in the case of Ranvir Singh v. State of U.P. and Others, 2013(2)ADJ 377, wherein vide paragraphs 12,13, 14 and 15 has held thus:
12. The licence for running cattle fair is granted under the Bye-laws framed in respect of the Zilla Panchayat Auraiya as contemplated under Heading-D of sub-section (2) of Section 239. Copy of the Bye-laws for controlling and regulating Cattle Fair etc. framed under Section 143 read with Section 239 (2) of the 1961 Act in respect of Zila Panchayat, Auraiya, and published in the Official Gazette, has been filed as Annexure 1 to the Writ Petition.
13. The impugned Order, has therefore, been passed in exercise of powers conferred under the Bye-laws framed under Heading-D of sub-section (2) of Section 239 of the 1961 Act. Therefore, an Appeal against such order would lie to the Appellate Authority under Section 251 of the 1961 Act.
14. As held by this Court in the aforesaid decision in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 48620 of 2012 (Zila Panchayat Auraiya and another vs. State of U.P. Through Secretary and others), the Appellate Authority under Section 251 of the 1961 Act is the District Magistrate in respect of an order passed by the Uppar Mukhya Adhikari granting licence for running cattle fair.
15. As is evident from a perusal of Annexure 9 to the Writ Petition, the petitioner has already filed an Appeal before the District Magistrate, Auraiya against the impugned Order dated 24.12.2012. Thus, the petitioner is already pursuing an alternative remedy available to him.
From the bare reading of the relevant provisions and having gone through the judgment of this Court (supra), we are convinced that appeal would lie before the District Magistrate in the present case.
In view of above, we are disposing of this writ petition with direction that in case petitioner prefers statutory appeal as provided for under Section 251(1) of U.P. Kshettra Panchayats and Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam, 1961 within period of ten days from today the same shall be considered and decided by the District Magistrate on merits after hearing the Zila Panchayat within further period of two weeks.
Order Date :- 23.1.2020 Sanjeev (Ajit Kumar,J.) (Ramesh Sinha,J.)