Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

W.P.(C).No.28902 of 2013 is filed by the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association, Pathanamthitta District Committee, along with persons who are engaged in the business of running hotels and restaurants at Pathanamthitta, Adoor and Panthalam in Pathanamthitta District, seeking a writ of certiorari to quash Ext.P20 price list dated 13.11.2013, published by the District Collector, Pathanamthitta, fixing the price of various food stuffs in the hotels and restaurants in that district, during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season (2013-14). They have also sought a declaration that, the steps taken by the District Administration to fix the price of food stuffs in their hotels and restaurants, as evidenced by Ext.P20 price list, and the compulsion to display the said price list by replacing the existing price list exhibited in their hotels and restaurants is illegal, ultra vires, without jurisdiction and is in total disobedience of the W.P.(C)Nos.28902 & 30763/13 & 31120 & 31819/14 -2- dictum laid down by this Court in the decisions reported in Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association v. State of Kerala (2005 (4) KLT 497) and Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association v. Thrissur District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (2012 (3) KLT 277).

2. W.P.(C)No.30763 of 2013 is filed by persons who are engaged in the business of running non-vegetarian hotels and restaurants in Thiruvalla Town in Pathanamthitta District, seeking a writ of certiorari to quash Ext.P12 proceedings dated 11.11.2013 of the District Collector, Pathanamthitta, fixing the price of food stuffs in the hotels and restaurants in that district during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season (2013-14) and Ext.P13 price list (same as Ext.P20 in W.P.(C).No.28902 of 2013) published by the District Collector, Pathanamthitta. They have also sought a declaration that the steps taken by the District Administration to fix the price of food stuffs in the non-vegetarian hotels run by the petitioners, as evidenced by Ext.P13 price list and the compulsion to display the said price list by replacing the existing price list is illegal, ultra vires, without jurisdiction and is in total disobedience of the dictum laid down by W.P.(C)Nos.28902 & 30763/13 & 31120 & 31819/14 -3- this Court in the decisions referred to above.

3. W.P.(C)No.31120 of 2014 is filed by the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association, Pathanamthitta District Committee, along with persons who are engaged in the business of running hotels and restaurants in Pathanamthitta District, seeking similar reliefs in respect of Ext.P29 price list dated 13.11.2014, issued by the District Collector, Pathanamthitta, fixing the price of various food stuffs in the hotels and restaurants in that district, during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season (2014-15).

W.P.(C)Nos.28902 & 30763/13 & 31120 & 31819/14 -5-

7. According to the petitioners, millions of devotees visiting Sabarimala pass through Pathanamthitta District and there will be heavy requirement of food stuffs in their hotels/restaurants during every pilgrimage season. Every year, the District Administration used to convene meetings with all concerned in order to make arrangements for the devotees visiting Sabarimala. Such a meeting was convened on 28.9.2013, by the District Collector, Pathanamthitta, in which the representative of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association was also invited. In that meeting, the District Collector made a demand to reduce the price of food stuffs in the hotels and restaurants in Pathanamthitta District, during Sabarimala pilgrimage season (2013-14). Though the representative of the Association expressed its inability to do so, the District Collector unilaterally fixed the price of various food stuffs in the hotels and restaurants in Pathanamthitta District during Sabarimala pilgrimage season (2013-14) and published Ext.P20 price list. The very same price list, which is produced as Ext.P13, is under challenge in W.P. (C).No.30763 of 2013. The price list issued for Sabarimala pilgrimage season (2014-15) is under challenge in W.P.(C).