- (1.) On 9 October 1975, an agreement was entered into between the father of the petitioner, Bhagwan Deen Varun and the Railways in pursuance of which a tea stall was allotted to him at Goods Shed, Gwalior Station of North Central Railway. The licensee died on 4 May 2009 during the subsistence of the agreement during the term of 1 November 2005 to 31 October 2010. The licence was thereafter transferred in the name of his spouse Smt Bhagwan Devi (the mother of the petitioner) for the remaining period of the licence which was until 31 October 2010. The term of the licence in favour of Smt Bhagwan Devi was extended to 1 November 2010 to 31 October 2015. On 16 November 2015, the Divisional Commercial Manager addressed a letter to Smt Bhagwan Devi stating that the license was being extended for a period of six months from 1 November 2015 or until a new allotment was made whichever was earlier. Smt Bhagwan Devi died on 2 November 2015. The petitioner filed an application on 15 December 2015 for mutating his name in the license in place of his late mother and eventually filed a writ petition which was disposed of with a direction to the fourth respondent to decide the claim. An order has been passed by the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of the North Central Railway on 7 April 2016 rejecting the claim. The Senior Divisional Commercial Manager has also relied upon a Corrigendum dated 12/13 January 2012 to the Catering Policy of 2010 issued by the Government of India in the Ministry of Railways, Railway Board. Insofar as is material the relevant provision therein is as follows: "Transfer of license to the spouse/legal heir would be allowed only in the event of death of the original licensee. The license can be transferred in the name of spouse/legal heir for the unexpired period of the agreement only, with personal approval of the Chief Commercial Manager/ Divisional Railway Manager/MD, IRCTC as the case may be. Nomination of the legal heir should be obtained from the license holder at the time of entering into contract. The nomination should be only from amongst the family members. After completion of the unexpired period renewal can be considered to the legal heir for both general and reserved category minor static units licensees subject to satisfactory performance, payment of all dues and withdrawal of court case, if any."
(2.) The view of the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager is that since the death of the predecessor of the petitioner took place on 25 November 2015 after the expiry of the term of the license on 31 October 2015, the petitioner would not be entitled to the benefit of the above provision which enures only for the unexpired period of the agreement. It is this decision which has been challenged.
(3.) The condition of the policy which has been extracted above contemplates that a license can be transferred in favour of a spouse or, as the case may be, legal heirs upon the death of the original licensee. The license has to be transferred for the unexpired period of the agreement. After completion of the unexpired period, a renewal thereof can be considered for being granted to the legal heir subject to satisfactory performance, payment of dues and withdrawal of cases, if any.;