Cheekati Swarupa v. 1. The State of Telangana

r,posal of the writ petition. lA NO: 2 OF 2024 Petition uncer lection 151 CPC praying that in the circumstr,rnces stated in the affidavit filed irr sr lrport of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to stay the operation of the : rler passed by the Collector (CS), Peddapalli in B/ 15412024 dated 0411012024 r,:r . ing disposal of the writ petition. lA NO: 2 OF 2025 Between: 'l . The State ol --e Supplies Dec ar 2. The Collectc r (( 3. The Revenue ll 4. The Deputy Tal 5. The Tahshiktir' AND i)lgana, represented by its Principal Secretary, Food and Civil lrent, Secretariat Building, Hyderabad. vil Supplies), Peddapalli ,. sional Officer, Peddapalli. :,hildar Civil Supplies, Peddapalli. I )eddapalli Mandal and o''l']lJ.r,r,o*ERS/Rr=spoNDENrs Cheekati Srarz n Shop No 36 10C 6rir, W/o. Pochalu, Age 40 Yrs., Occ: Fair Pric,: Shop dealer, 1:i. Appannapet village, Peddapalli Mandal and district ...RESPONDE:NT/PETITIONER Petition unde- i,)ction 151 CPC praying that in the circumst.rnces stated in the affidavit filed n r L,pport of the petition, the High Court nrzry ce pleased to vacate the interir lrder granted in l.A.No.2/2024 in \y',/F,. N c .3005612024, dt:30.1O.2024 and C s 'iss the WP. Counsel for the Petiti rner: SRI R. LAXMINARASIMHA RAO Counsel for the Resrp rndents: cP FOR CIVIL SUPPLIES The Court made the f rllowing: ORDER THE HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE T. MADHAVT DEVI WRIT PETITION No.30056 of 2024 ORDER: This Writ Petition is filed challenging the order of respondent No.2 dated 04.10.2024 as illegal, arbitrary and tn violation of principles of natural justice and consequently to set aside the same.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been running Fair Price Shop No.3610023, Appannapet Village, Peddapalli Mandal and District, as its dealer. Leamed counsel for the petitioner submitted that on 03.09.2024, respondent No.4 conducted an inspection and found that there was shortfall of rice and a panchanama was . recorded. During the course of the panchanama, the petitioner had explained the shorlfall of rice as being the PDS rice distributed during the COVID period, which has not been retumed to her. But, without considering her explanation, the impugned order dated 04.10.2024 has been passed, tevying the penalty of three times the value of deviation, i.e., Rs.1,9j,000/-. It is flrrther submitted that the authorization of the TMDI !/p 10056 202+ 7 petitioner"s I l price shop has also been suspenJi:d and the petitioner hir:; 'ot been able to carry on any work therea'l-e,. \ t 1 1 3 l-,lirr' r :cl Govemment Pleader for Civil Supplie ;, appearing for the re:; o rlents, on the other hand, relied upon the counter- affidavit fi1,:c :nd the documents filed therewith in surprlrl of his contentionI t r t the petitioner herself has admitte<I t,) th,.) guilt of therebeing ,'r .rrtion in the stock. Therefore, according to him, the impugnecl or'< . r' dated 04.10.2024 is justified.

4. I--'rr r:d Govemment Pleader has also filed a copy of the written erllr r ation dated 23.09.2024, allegedly 5:i'zer by the petitioner. ril t'rein she has admitted her guilt and sht: 'ec uested to pardon her i: 'the mistake which was committed by h::r fc,r the first I document has been filed along with the rremo on time. -fhe 04 04 2o2t 3 }i6lr,,7s1, leamed counsel for the petitioner har; pointed out that the s . rrv cause notice issued on 18.09.2021 ils,:lf mentions that there i , . r admission of guilt by the petitiorler irr d r.herefore, IMDJ wp_300s6_202# the reliance on the documenr dared 23.09.2024 would not arise and the same cannot be sustained.

6. On verification of documents filed along with the counter affidavit, both in Telugu and English versions, it is tbund that there is variation in the translated copy of the English version. Though there is no admission of guilt by the petitioner in the panchanama or in the statement given before panchas in Telugu, the translated copy of the English version contains the averment that there is an admission of guilt and that she is seeking pardon, as it is her first mistake. Therefore, the concerned officer was called for and he submitted that an inadvertent mistake had happened while translating the copy. He tendered an unconditional apology for the same. 7 . Having regard to the above submissions of both the parties, this Court is satisfied that the petitioner has offered an explanation in Telugu for the shorlfall of rice before the panchas and also a .separate, statement in Telugu was given explaining the reasons for the variation in the stock of rice, i.e., shortfall of rice and there was no admission of guilt by the petitioner. In the l i l TMDI wrr_30056 202+ 4 translatec cr l"y. there is a mistake which has been r:c In nitted and taking thr: sr r r'.e into consideration, respondent No 2 llso passed the impugne,l tr ( er of penalty. lt is also observ'ed tl.rat t h e 1 'etitioner's authorizatro r has been suspended from the date oFthc pi Lnchanama and sl-re ha: 'rot been able to carry on the work ancl e<e out her iivelihoo d ln view of the same, the impugned order dated

04.10 2021 r . set aside with a direction to responrlent No'2 to consi<ler 'tr r explanation of the petitioner given orr thc date of explanat t,tr rnd take a decision thereon in accordanc': with law havine J,z I'1 , ular regard to the fact that the valialion is only 20 quintals o ! i :e.

8. ,:gards the loss of income as well as rt:putrttion of the petiti,:ne r L , the incorrect translation ol the ex;llanltior. submitted by the lxri costs o I oner, this Court directs respondent No.4 to pay the .80,000/- (Rupees Eighty Thousand on[1) to the petitiont'L ' , thin a period of two (02) months frotn the date of receipt o1 i :,opy of this order and file a compliance report before this Clorll. 'lhe respondents are further directed lo restore the authoriza., rr of the petitioner to run the fair price shop. \ 5 TM DJ wp_10056_202+ With the above directions, this Writ petition is disposed Miscellaneous applications, if any, pending in this writ 9 of.

10. petition, shall stand closed //TRUE COPY// SD/.M. OSMAN ALI BAIG S ISTANT REGISTRAR SECTION OFFICER To, 1 . The Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies Building, The State of ielangana, HyOeratiid. . The Collector (Civil Supplies), peddapaili . The Revenue Divisional Officer, Peddapalli. . The Deputy Tahshildar Civil Supplies, peddapalli. . The Tahshildar, Peddapalli Mandal and distribt . One CC to Sri R. Laxminarasimha Rao, Advocate [OpUC] . Two CCs to GP for Civil Supplies, High Court for thb State'of Telangana, a Hyderabad [OUT] 8. Two CD Copies ent, Secretariat 2 3 4 5 6 7 TJ LS 0u HIGH COUR T DATED:0710,112025 ORDER WP.No.300l5t:i of 2024 Ht. {,Ia 16. o 7or. tJ ,ii, 2075 '.; ) ') ; t i .,,... / -^'z/ \ DISPOSING I)F THE WRIT PETITION WITHOUT C:0STS LLO{16