Expired licence revocation cannot stand when notice is issued after expiry; revocation proceedings become infructuous.

A revocation order cannot survive where the underlying licence had already expired before the show cause notice was issued, because proceedings directed at an expired licence become infructuous in law. On that basis, the revocation order was treated as unsustainable and the appeal was disposed of in the appellants' favour to that extent. The pending proceedings arising from the later notice and the renewal application were treated as separate matters and were left unaffected.

---

---

Issues: Whether an order revoking a licence can be sustained when the licence had already expired before the show cause notice was issued.

Analysis: The licence had validly expired before the notice initiating revocation proceedings was issued. An order passed on the basis of such a notice, directed against an already expired licence, could not survive in law and was rendered infructuous. The pending fresh proceedings and the renewal application were treated as separate matters unaffected by this conclusion.

Conclusion: The revocation order could not stand and was held infructuous. The appeal was disposed of in favour of the appellants to that extent, without affecting the pending proceedings on the later notice or the renewal request.

---