Veerprabhu Marketing Limtied And ANR. v. Union Of India And ORS.

08.05.2026 Court No.25 D/L No.6 S. Gayen

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side WPA 4376 of 2026 Veerprabhu Marketing Limited & Anr.

Versus

Union of India & Ors.

Mr. Siddhartha Banerjee Mr. Srijit Halder ...for the Petitioners Mr. Jayanta Mitra, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Devajyoti Banerjee ...for the Respondents

1. The only grievance of the petitioners in the present writ application is that the impugned order dated December 17, 2025 is passed by the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Department of Food and Public Distribution at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi instead of deciding the issue by the Neutral Committee.

2. In compliance with the order passed by this Court dated March 27, 2026, the Secretary to the Government of India has filed an affidavit wherein it is categorically mentioned that "in difference to the said orders dated 12.08.2025 read with 27.03.2026 of this Hon'ble Court; the Department of Food and Public Distribution will constitute a Neutral Committee, should this Hon'ble High Court deem it appropriate to do so".

3. Considering the affidavit filed by the Secretary, this Court set aside the impugned order dated February 17, 2025 with the direction to the respondent No.3 to constitute a Neutral Committee to decide the grievance of the petitioner within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of this order. If the Neutral Committee is constituted, the said committee after giving an opportunity of hearing to all the parties shall pass a reasoned and speaking order within a period of six weeks from the date of constitution of the Neutral Committee.

4. Accordingly, WPA 4376 of 2026 is disposed of.

5. All parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

6. Urgent Photostat certified copy, if applied for, be given to the parties upon compliance with all formalities. (Krishna Rao, J.)