Read Time: 05 minutes

Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has recently observed that appellate authorities to ensure effective remedies are provided in letter and spirit and that there is no scope for a theory by the appellate authorities that the operation is successful but the patient is dead.

“There cannot be a scope for a theory of ‘operation being successful however the patient dead’. The petitioners would certainly have a legal right to know, the status of their challenge insofar as the interim reliefs or the final reliefs they seek in their appeals, before they are made to suffer the suspension order,” the order reads.

A division bench of the high court, comprising Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla, heard several petitions filed by chemist shop owners concerning the closure of their shops.

The chemist shop owners approached the high court, claiming that their appeal was not being listed before the appellate authority.

One of the petitioners, Apna Chemist, submitted that an order suspending his license from January 8, 2024, to January 17, 2024, was passed on October 3, 2023.

He claimed that he filed an appeal against the order on October 31, 2023, but it had not yet been listed, and no orders were passed staying the effect of the order on their interim applications.

The high court stayed the order directing the closure of shops and directed the appellate authority under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to decide the appeal within 8 weeks.

The division bench noted that such inaction by the appellate authority affects the right of the petitioner to carry out trade and profession.

“Such inaction on the part of the appellate authority is likely to affect the rights guaranteed to such persons under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution read with Articles 14, 21 and 300A of the Constitution,” the order reads.

The high court also observed that the appellate authority is expected not to overlook the significant obligation that comes with the powers it wields in the adjudication of statutory appeals.

“The appellate authority is expected not to overlook the significant obligation with the powers the appellate authority wields, in adjudication of the statutory appeals. Once the remedy is provided by law, it is required to be an 'effective remedy' in letter and spirit. The appellate authority hearing the statutory appeals would be required to be alive to the consequences," the order states.

Case title: Apna Chemist vs Asst Commissioner Zone 3