Fair-price shop licensees have no absolute right over ration-card holders where reassignment complies with Rule 11.

The petitioners, operators of fair price shops in Kalaburagi district, challenged notifications issued by the Deputy Director for Food and Civil Supplies proposing new fair price shops and reallocating certain ration cards from their shops to the proposed depots.

The State defended the notifications as a policy decision made in the public interest and for the benefit of ration-card holders.

The petitions were heard together by consent.

1. Whether the Deputy Director’s notifications reallocating ration cards and establishing new fair price depots were contrary to the Karnataka Essential Commodities Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2016.

2. Whether the petitioners were entitled to relief against the notifications despite the availability of an appeal under Rule 17 of the Order, 2016.

Rule 11 of the Karnataka Essential Commodities Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2016 governs the assignment of ration cards to fair price depots. As stated by the Court, the number assigned to a depot must be at least 500 in a rural area and 800 in an urban area; shop operators have no absolute right to retain all ration-card holders in their area.

The Court also noted that decisions under challenge were appealable under Rule 17 of the Order, 2016.

The Court found that the notifications withdrew some ration cards from the petitioners’ depots to facilitate the establishment of new depots, but each petitioners’ depot retained more than the minimum 500 cards applicable to rural areas.

It therefore held that the reallocations complied with Rule 11 and that the petitioners could not claim an absolute entitlement to all cardholders in their areas.

The Court found no sufficient ground to set aside the notifications.

It also recorded the availability of a Rule 17 appeal, but did not separately determine the petitions on that basis.

All four writ petitions were rejected.