- (1.) THE petitioner, who was awarded contracts of transportation of milk by various District Cooperative Milk Producers Union and the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, either in insulated tankers or in sachets, has come up with the first writ petition, challenging an order dated 30.8.2014 terminating the contract given to the petitioner for operating seven vehicles in Chennai Metro from Ambattur Dairy to Sholinganallur Dairy. The same transporter has come up with the second writ petition challenging an order dated 4.10.2014, passed by the Vellore Tiruvannamalai District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited, blacklisting the petitioner for a period of three years.
(2.) I have heard Mr.V.Raghavachari, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr.A.L.Somayaji, learned Advocate General assisted by Mr.Bala Ramesh appearing for the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Cooperative Federation and assisted by Mr.P.Sanjay Gandhi, learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the State.
(3.) IT appears that the petitioner is one of the largest transport contractors, holding contracts from various District Cooperative Milk Producers Union for transporting milk from several districts to the Federation at Madhavaram and from the Federation for transporting the processed milk either in insulated tanker lorries or in sachets from the Federation at Madhavaram to various districts. Though there is no pleading on both sides to the said effect, it was admitted on both sides that all the District Cooperative Unions and the Federation normally hire about 300 lorries and that nearly 50% of those lorries belong either to the petitioner or to the family members of the proprietrix of the petitioner. In these two writ petitions, we are only concerned about the contract entrusted by the Vellore Tiruvannamalai District Cooperative Milk Producers Union and the contract given by the Federation. The contract awarded by the Vellore Tiruvannamalai District Cooperative Milk Producers Union was dated 11.2.2011 for a period of two years. It was for transporting milk from Vellore District Union Region to Chennai Metro Dairies using 25 road milk tankers. The contract commenced on 9.2.2011 and it expired on 8.2.2013. By way of an interim arrangement, the petitioner was allowed to continue beyond 8.2.2013 by mutual consent until a tender was floated.;