Lalita Vs State of U.P. Thru. Its Prin. Secy. Panchayat Raj Lko. and 3 Others — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

Lalita Vs State of U.P. Thru. Its Prin. Secy. Panchayat Raj Lko. and 3 Others — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Dismissed

Issue for consideration

Whether the public interest litigation challenging the advertisement dated 10.07.2024 for establishment of fair price shops, and seeking mandamus to follow government orders dated 10.08.2007 and 05.08.2019, serves any public interest and survives, given that the fair price shop at Sarsavan has already been established.

Court's answer

The relief sought against the advertisement is wholly misconceived because the fair price shop has already been established in the area of Sarsavan, situated in Khargapur Ward.

Ratio / Principle

The petitioner does not seem to seek a direction serving any public interest; any challenge to an advertisement whereby fair price shops are established under the public distribution system is far from serving public interest.

Key takeaways

With the shop in the village of Sarsavan having been established, no surviving cause remains on the extent argued by the petitioner.ratio¶12
The court declines to entertain the writ petition in public interest because the advertisement has already been acted upon with the establishment of fair price shops serving public interest.ratio¶13

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No. 258 of 2025 by Lalita against the State of U.P. and others sought (i) certiorari to quash the advertisement dated 10.07.2024 by the opposite parties and (ii) mandamus commanding the opposite parties to follow government orders dated 10.08.2007 and 05.08.2019, relating to establishment of fair price shops under the public distribution system. State counsel (Shri V. P. Nag) informed the court that the fair price shop had already been established in the area of Sarsavan, situated in Khargapur Ward. The Division Bench (Attau Rahman Masoodi, J. and Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I, J.) held the relief against the advertisement wholly misconceived; observed that a challenge to an advertisement establishing fair price shops under the public distribution system does not serve public interest and that no surviving cause remained; declined to entertain the petition as the advertisement had already been acted upon; and dismissed the writ petition as devoid of merit (order dated 24.3.2025).

Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC-LKO:16668-DB

Court No. - 1

Case :- PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. - 258 of 2025

Petitioner :- Lalita

Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru. Its Prin. Secy. Panchayat Raj Lko. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Raj Kumar Dwivedi,Dinesh Kumar Srivastava Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

Hon'ble Attau Rahman Masoodi,J. Hon'ble Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I,J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri V. P. Nag, learned counsel for the State.

2. The present writ petition, filed in the Public Interest, prays for the reliefs as under :-

"(i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari to quash the advertisement dated 10.07.2024 by the opposite parties.

(ii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus thereby commanding the opposite parties to follow the government order dated 10.08.2007 and 05.08.2019."

3. Shri V. P. Nag, learned counsel for the State has informed that the fair price shop has already been established in the area of Sarsavan, which is situated in Khargapur Ward. Thus, the relief sought in this writ petition against the advertisement is wholly misconceived.

4. Evidently the petitioner does not seem to seek a direction which may serve any public interest. Any challenge to the advertisement whereby fair price shops are established under the public distribution system, is far from serving public interest. Once the shop in the village of Sarsavan has been established, we do not find any surviving cause to the extent within which the petitioner has argued the matter before us.

5. In the circumstances stated above, we decline to entertain the present writ petition in public interest as the advertisement itself has already been acted upon with the establishment of fair price shops serving public interest.

6. The writ petition, being devoid of merit, is dismissed .

(A. K. Srivastava-I,J.) (A. R. Masoodi,J.)

Order Date :- 24.3.2025 Mahesh

Digitally signed by :- MAHESH KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench