ALLAHABAD HC SETS ASIDE SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ISSUED AFTER PRE-MEDITATION AS RESPONDENT HAD ALREADY EXPRESSED ITS MINDALLAHABAD HC SETS ASIDE SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ISSUED AFTER PRE-MEDITATION AS RESPONDENT HAD ALREADY EXPRESSED ITS MIND

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The Allahabad High Court in the case M/S Bcits Pvt. Ltd. v. Purvanchal Vidhyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. And Another observed and has recently set aside a show cause notice sent after pre-mediation as the Court noted that the respondent (a government authority) had already made up their mind and their decision had been expressed in the notice while issuing the same to the petitioner.

The bench comprising of Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Dinesh Pathak observed and remarked that even if the petitioner offers its explanation, it would be an empty formality and a futile exercise. It was demanded by the fairness that the respondent should have taken care to keep their mind open to the issues while seeking an explanation.

However, the petitioner-company was given a contract of “Door to Door Meter Reading, Bill Generation and Serving through Mobile App/SBM/ Other Suitable Means with Downloading” by the respondent-Corporation in 2018.

It was observed that In June 2020 and in August 2021, the petitioner was issued a notice threatening to blacklist it on account of alleged irregularities on its part. However, later on, both the notices were dropped on.

In August 2021, another notice was issued with the same allegations threatening the petitioner company to blacklist it. Thus, the reply was given by the Petitioner-company, moreover, the explanation was not accepted and the respondent arrived at a definite finding that the alleged irregularities and breaches committed by the Company had resulted in tarnishing the image of the respondent-Corporation.

A show cause notice was issued by the petitioner company to come forward and explain as why it should not be debarred/blacklisted for a period of two years.

While challenging the notice, the petitioner company moved to the High Court stating that since the notice was issued after pre-meditation and thus, seeking explanation and issuing notice explanation would not serve any purpose as the corporation/respondent that issued the notice had already made up its mind.

The Court noted, while agreeing with this contention of the petitioner-company that the respondent corporation had already expressed its mind that the explanation offered by the petitioner company was unsatisfactory and that the petitioner company was guilty of the charges levelled against the same.

It was noted by the Court that now, even if the petitioner offers its explanation, it would be an empty formality and a futile exercise. Thus, noting that the respondent-Corporation had already made up its mind that the explanation was not worthy of acceptance, however, the show cause notice can’t be said to be a show cause notice as the decision had already been taken up.

Accordingly, the impugned order was quashed by the court leaving it open to the respondent corporation to issue a fresh notice in accordance with the law, if so advised.