MANAV SEVA SANGH v. DIRECTOR OF COTTAGE INDUSTRIES & COOPERATION OF INDUSTRIES

CORAM : MR.JUSTICE S.K.KESHOTE Date of decision: 18/10/96 ORAL JUDGMENT (cid:9)Heard learned counsel for the respondent and perused the Special Civil Application. The petitioner, Manav Seva Sangh, filed this petition before this Court and challenged therein the order of the respondent dated 30th August 1986 cancelling the petitioner's name from the list of Government recognised women institutions. The Government of Gujarat, Industries, Mines and Electric Department, by its Resolution No.ICO 1078/4383/5, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, dated 8.3.79, decided to give first preference to the recognised women institutions for purchase of essential articles by the Government and Semi Government State level cooperative societies and Jail etc. It has been resolved under the aforesaid resolution of the Government that these institutions shall receive the articles mentioned in the said resolution only from the women institutions recognised by the State of Gujarat without inviting any kind of tender.

List of articles to be supplied is mentioned in the said resolution and the rates of articles were required to be fixed by the Committee of the members mentioned therein. The petitioner-institution was a recognised institution for the aforesaid purpose. Subsequently the aforesaid resolution has been modified and these women institutions were further entrusted with the work of supply of all cereals after necessary cleansing of the same, flour to the Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad. By subsequent orders made from time to time further grocery items were entrusted for the supply to different Government institutions and semi Government institutions by the women organisations. The petitioner has given out the facts in the Special Civil Application that these organisations were given the work of supply of aforesaid grocery items to different Government institutions including Civil Hospital. The respondent, by passing the orders from time to time reduced the work of supply of articles to institutions and lastly the supply of articles was restricted to only two institutions, namely, the Civil Hospital, and Maniben Hospital, Ahmedabad.

The petitioner filed the Special Civil ApplicationNo.371 of 1986 for appropriate writ or direction challenging thereunder the reduction of institutions to which supplies of articles were made by the petitioner. In the said Special Civil Application, on 29.4.86, the Court has made order with consent of the counsel for the parties that the respondent No.1 therein, the Director of Cottage Industries and if he nominates the Joint Director, the Joint Director, shall give a date of appointment to all the women's institutions which are at present supplying materials to the institutions prescribed by the Regulations. The Court further ordered that all these institutions shall submit their respective suggestions in writing and he shall formulate a policy which will ensure equal distributions of supply to all such women's organisations as far as the nature of the commodities and other relevant factors permit.

For this exercise, a time bound programme has been fixed by this Court. The report has been submitted to the Court in the previous litigation and only six women institutions were entrusted with the work of supply of articles and the recognition of the petitioner institution was cancelled. This report has been challenged by the petitioner before this Court in this Special Civil Application.