Smt. Phoolkunwar Vs State of Chhattisgarh — Chhattisgarh HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Smt. Phoolkunwar Vs State of Chhattisgarh — Chhattisgarh HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petitioner relegated to the alternative remedy: liberty to file appeal/petition before the Collector within 15 days; Collector directed to decide the appeal, with due opportunity of hearing, within 60 days; pendency of the writ petition since 09.09.2022 to be considered under Section 5 of the Limitation Act.

Issue for consideration

Challenge to the cancellation, by the SDO (Revenue), Balrampur (order dated 22.06.2022), of the allotment of Fair Price Shop Makro in favour of the petitioner. +1 more

Ratio / Principle

In view of the limited relief sought and the conceded alternative remedy, the petitioner is directed to avail the alternative remedy by filing an appropriate appeal/petition before the Collector within 15 days from receipt of a copy of the order.

Key takeaways

Upon such appeal being filed, the Collector is directed to consider and decide it in accordance with law after giving due opportunity of hearing to the petitioner, within 60 days from receipt of the appeal.ratio¶27
The Collector shall decide the petitioner's appeal bearing in mind that the writ petition stood filed on 09.09.2022 and had remained pending; accordingly, that period shall be duly considered while deciding the petitioner's application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act.ratio¶28

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

High Court of Chhattisgarh, Bilaspur (Amitendra Kishore Prasad, J.), order dated 06/05/2026 in WPC No. 4024 of 2022: Petitioners, connected with Kamal Women Self Help Group, Marko, had challenged the cancellation of the allotment of the Fair Price Shop (Makro) effected by the Sub Divisional Officer (Revenue), Balrampur by order dated 22.06.2022 (Annexure P/1). Counsel for the petitioners conceded the existence of an alternative appellate remedy before the Collector and sought only liberty to pursue it. Disposing of the petition, the Court directed the petitioner to file the appeal before the Collector within 15 days of receipt of a copy of the order, directed the Collector to decide the appeal in accordance with law after due opportunity of hearing within 60 days of its receipt, and observed that the pendency of the writ petition since 09.09.2022 shall be duly considered while deciding the petitioner's application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act.

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2026:CGHC:21102

NAFR

AVINASH SHARMA

Digitally signed by AVINASH SHARMA Date: 2026.05.06 18:55:01 +0530

HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR

WPC No. 4024 of 2022

1 - Smt. Phoolkunwar W/o Sukhram Aged About 45 Years President Of Kamal Women Self Help Group, Marko, Operator Of Government Fair Price Shop, Marko, Gram Panchayat, Marko, Police Station Chalgali, Tahsil Balrampur, District Balrampur Ramanujganj Chhattisgarh

2 - Smt. Pooja W/o Harkesh Gupta Aged About 28 Years Secretary Of Kamal Women Self Help Group, Marko, R/o Village Gouripur, Tahsil Dauira, District Balrampur Ramanujganj Chhattisgarh

3 - Harkesh Gupta S/o Shri Rambali Gupta Aged About 38 Years Assistant Seller Of Kamal Women Self Help Group, Marko, R/o Village Gouripur, Tahsil Dauira, District Balrampur Ramanujganj Chhattisgarh

... Petitioner(s)

versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary, Food And Civil Supplies, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, New Raipur Chhattisgarh

2 - The Collector District Balrampur Ramanujganj Chhattisgarh

3 - The Sub Divisional Officer (Revenue) Balrampur, District Balrampur Ramanujganj Chhattisgarh.

4 - The Food Inspector Balrampur District Ramanujganj Chhattisgarh.

... Respondent(s)

For Petitioner(s)	: Shri Rahul Mishra, Advocate.
For State/Res	: Shri Shreyansh Mehtra, PL.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board

06/05/2026

Instant Writ Petition has been preferred against the order dated 22.06.2022

(Annexure P/1) passed by the Sub Divisional Officer (Revenue), Balrampur,

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District Balrampur Ramanujganj, C.G. by which, allotment of a Fair Price Shop Makro in favour of the petitioner has been cancelled.

At the outset, learned counsel for the petitioner very fairly submits that there is already an alternative remedy available in favour of the petitioner to challenge the impugned order before the Collector by filing the duly constituted appeal.

Learned counsel for the petitioner on that note submits that this Writ Petition may be disposed of reserving liberty in favour of the petitioner to approach the Collector and in turn, the Collector may be directed to decide the appeal of the petitioner within a stipulated time frame, after affording opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.

Considering the limited relief as sought by the petitioner, the petitioner is directed to avail himself of the alternative remedy available to him by filing appropriate appeal/petition before the Collector within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. In the eventuality of such an appeal being filed, the Collector is directed to consider and decide the same in accordance with law after giving due opportunity of hearing to the petitioner within a period of 60 days from the date of receipt of such appeal.

It is further observed that the Collector shall decide the petitioner’s appeal bearing in mind that the present petition was filed before this Hon’ble Court on 09.09.2022 and has remained pending since then. Accordingly, the said period shall be duly considered while deciding the petitioner’s application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act.

With the aforesaid direction/observation, this Writ Petition is disposed of.

Sd/(Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge

Avinash