The Uttarakhand High Court has held that an order cancelling a fair price shop licence is unsustainable in law if it is not signed by the District Magistrate, who alone is competent to pass such an order under the applicable Government Order. The Court observed that an unsigned order cannot be treated as a valid order of the District Magistrate merely because it was communicated to the affected person by another official.

Justice Pankaj Purohit was hearing a writ petition challenging an order dated 19 November 2018, cancelling the petitioner's fair price shop licence and the appellate order affirming the cancellation. The petitioner contended that the cancellation order did not bear the signature of the District Magistrate on any of its pages and therefore could not be regarded as an order passed by the competent authority. It was further contended that the order appeared to have been issued by the District Supply Officer, who lacked jurisdiction to cancel the licence.

During the proceedings, the Court directed production of the original records and required the concerned dealing clerk from the office of the District Magistrate, Udham Singh Nagar, to remain present before the Court. Upon examination of the original record, the State conceded that the impugned order did not contain the signature of the District Magistrate. However, it was argued that since the order had been forwarded to the petitioner under the signature of the District Supply Officer, no illegality was caused.

The Court rejected the contention of the State. The Court observed that the District Magistrate was the only authority competent to cancel the petitioner's fair price shop licence under the relevant Government Order. Once the impugned order did not bear the signature of the District Magistrate, it could not be sustained in the eyes of law and was liable to be quashed at the threshold.

“… once the order has not been signed by the District Magistrate, who is the only authority competent to cancel the fair price shop licence of the petitioner under the Government Order, such order cannot sustain and is liable to be quashed at the threshold,” the Court observed.

Accordingly, the Court allowed the writ petition and quashed both the cancellation order dated 19 November 2018 and the appellate order.

Case Title: Mukesh Kumar v. State of Uttarakhand & Ors. [Writ Petition (M/S) No. 2307 of 2024]

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