Madras HC ‘no’ to Aavin parlour in Tiruchy GH

Chennai: The Madras high court has set aside an order of a single judge which directed the authorities to permit a person to set up Aavin booth parlour on Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital premises in Tiruchirappalli district.

A division bench comprising Justices K.Ravichandrabaabu and Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy allowed an appeal filed by the state government, which sought to set aside an order of a single judge dated February 20, 2019.

Originally, R.Chinnaiah Pillai filed a petition, challenging an order of the Director of Medical Education, wherein and whereby his request for locating Aavin parlour on the campus of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, Tiruchirappalli , was rejected by citing a GO dated March 25, 2015. A single judge had set aside the rejection order and directed the petitioner to make fresh application and directed the DME to accord permission to him to set up the Aavin booth parlour after obtaining an undertaking that he will sell and vend only Aavin products. Aggrieved, the state government filed the present appeal.
 
The bench said the authorities under whom the management and maintenance of the hospital campus were vested, they were the right persons to take a decision as to whether any private canteen or restaurant or milk parlour can be permitted on the government hospital campus or not. Further, the government has already taken a decision through its order dated March 25, 2015, that all the existing private canteens on the campus of government hospitals should be vacated within three months., except the canteens being run by the government departments. It was further seen from the said GO that even if any canteen was to be located on government hospital premises, it should be done only by way of inviting tenders from the public.

“Therefore, when such being the decision taken by the government, we are of the considered view that permission to locate the Aavin booth cannot be ordered to be granted based on an application, as has been done in this case. Therefore, we find that the order of the writ court in permitting the petitioner to make such an application with a consequential direction to the DME to issue a license to the petitioner cannot be sustained,” the bench added.

The bench said if the authorities were intending to permit for locating any private canteens or milk parlours, it is open to them to do so after inviting tenders by way of public auction/tender by following the procedures contemplated under the Tamil Nadu Tender Transparency Act.