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3. Mr. Kataki, learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that his client has obtained "NOC" from the competent authority under Rule 102 of the Explosive Rules, 2008 and as such, there was no further necessity to obtain another NOC from the Director of Fire Services, Assam. Referring to the explosive license issued to the petitioner by the Deputy Chief Controller of Explosive. Mr. Kataki has submitted that no further license or NOC, save and except, the trade license from the GMC authority was required for selling and purchasing fire crackers. It is also the submission of the learned counsel for the writ petitioner that as per section 180 of the GMC Act, 1971, the GMC is authorized to issue trade license taking note of the nature of the trade or business carried out by the applicant. Contending that the Page No.# 3/7 Act of 1971 does not confer any authority upon the GMC to insist on NOC from the Director, Fire Services, Mr. Kataki has argued that the impugned order dated 03/07/2019 is illegal and therefore, liable to be set aside by this Court.

4. Assailing the impugned order dated 03/07/2019, Mr. Kataki has further argued that the Assam Fire Services Act, 1985 operates in a different field, which has nothing to do with trade and commerce carried out by an entity and therefore, it was wholly inappropriate for the respondents to insist on NOC from the Director of Fire Services and on such ground, suspend his trade license. According to Mr. Kataki, it is the Deputy Commissioner of the District, who is competent to issue a license in respect of fireworks under Section 17 of the Act of 1985. Since the Deputy Commissioner has already granted NOC in favour of the writ petitioner, based on which, the Explosive License under Explosive Rules of 2008 was obtained, the consent of the Deputy Commissioner in this case. The learned counsel, therefore, submits that since Section 180 of the GMC Act of 1971 does not lay down any provision for obtaining NOC from the Director, Fire Services, there is no scope for the GMC authorities to add words to the statue so as to expand its ambit.

5. Mr. D. Saikia, learned senior counsel appearing for the respondents, on the other hand, contends that the license issued by the Chief Controller of Explosive cannot supplement the requirement of fire safety, which is the responsibility of the State Government. Therefore, merely because the petitioner is holding a license from the Controller of Explosive, the same would not obviate the need for obtaining a separate license under the Act of 1985. It is also the submission of the respondents' counsel that in this case, the petitioner would not only require a trade license from the GMC authorities and an Explosive License under the Explosive Rules of 2008 but a separate license from the Deputy Commissioner of the District under Page No.# 4/7 Section 17 of the Act of 1985 to deal in fire crackers. Mr. Saikia has also argued that the GMC is responsible for maintaining the civic amenities within the corporation area and, therefore, it would have the authority to examine the legitimacy of any business activity before taking a decision in the matter of granting or renewal of trade license.

6. I have considered the arguments advanced by the learned counsel for both the parties and have also carefully gone through the materials available on record.

7. There is no dispute about the fact that the writ petitioner is running a shop within the municipal corporation area at Guwahati and he is dealing in fire crackers (fire works). The Explosive Act, 1884 defines explosives which includes fireworks. As per Rule 102 of the Explosive Rules, 2008, an "NOC" is required to be obtained by every person who is possessing or engaging in sale or use of explosives. The Explosive license can be issued by the Controller of Explosive only after the NOC is obtained from the District Magistrate or Director General of Mine Safety, as the case may be. In the present case, there is no dispute about the fact that the Joint Chief Controller of Explosive, Kolkata has granted an explosive license to the petitioner for dealing in fire crackers, Chinese crackers and/or sparklers by specifying the quantity which can be dealt with at any one time. The Explosive license had evidently been issued to the petitioner under Explosive Rule 103 of the Rules, on the basis of an "NOC" obtained from the District Magistrate and the same is valid till 31/03/2021.