Assam: Gauhati HC stays cancellation of trade licence of ‘The Mirana’ hotel

Tinsukia: The Gauhati High Court on Monday stayed the cancellation order of trade licence of ‘The Mirana’ hotel issued by the Tinsukia Municipal Board till the next hearing scheduled on July 21, 2022.

Justice Suman Shyam after hearing both the parties and the prayer for interim relief decided to stay the order dated June 17, 2022 relating to the cancellation of trade licence.

The development comes after the counsels for the petitioner in Guwahati, Senior Counsel D.P. Chaliha and Counsel S. Islam, contended before the high court that the impugned order violated “the principle of natural justice as well as the statutory provision of the law” by not giving prior notice, sufficient time and definite reasons.

“Having regards to the facts and circumstances of the case, the averments made in the writ petition as well as the consequences that may ensue upon the petitioner due to the impugned order, it is hereby provided that, till the returnable date, operation of the order dated 17-06-2022 (Annexure-11) shall remain suspended,” the order read.

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Addressing the media persons, petitioner’s lawyer Brijesh Mishra said, “Immediately after receiving the cancellation order, we filed a writ petition in the Gauhati High Court on behalf of our client. We informed the court as to why, how and under what circumstances the trade licence has been cancelled by the Tinsukia Municipality.”

“We told the court how the licence is found to have been cancelled for reasons on which there is no definite finding. Neither any notice was served upon our client, nor time was given them,” Mishra said.

He further said, “We informed the court that at the time of issuance of trade licence, all process and proceeding are completed, documents required are collected by the Tinsukia Municipality and submitted by us after which required tax is to be deposited and a trade license is issued. Hence, to cancel the trade license in this fashion was an illegal act by the municipaliity authorities and as such we filed this writ petition.”

“The petitioner’s business would come to a standstill in view of the impugned order,” he added.

Mishra said, the Hon’ble court has admitted the matter and given us a stay, granting our prayer for interim relief.

Hotel ‘The Mirana’ came to limelight after executive magistrate Niluram Sarma returned from hotel premises without executing a sealing order, issued a day after the recovery of huge quantity of illicit liquor on June 11, on the grounds that the matter is sub-judice. 

The development sparked a massive row over the approach of the district administration towards ‘Appu’s’ vs ‘The Mirana’, with allegations that district administration went soft in ‘The Mirana’ case. It later snowballed into a major controversy after Tinsukia Bar Association’s scathing statement in the media, demanding an explanation from the district administration on the issue and calling its officer lacking in administrative knowledge.

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