Deemed licence under Kerala Municipality Act operates when refusal is communicated beyond the statutory period.

Section 447(6) of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 creates a deemed licence where the Secretary does not communicate an order on a licence application within the statutory period. The text explains that the application was submitted on 13.03.2008 and the refusal was communicated only on 23.04.2008, beyond thirty days. Because a deeming provision must be given full effect, the statutory fiction operated and the applicant was entitled to the benefit of a deemed licence notwithstanding the absence of an express licence. The Corporation was therefore restrained from preventing the retail business at the premises.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to a deemed licence under section 447(6) of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 when the order on the licence application was communicated beyond the statutory period.

Analysis: Section 447(3A) required the Secretary to grant or refuse the licence within fifteen days, and section 447(6) created a deeming consequence if the order was not communicated within thirty days of receipt of the application. The application was made on 13.03.2008, and the communication declining licence was issued only on 23.04.2008, well beyond the prescribed thirty days. A deeming provision must be given full effect and carried to its logical conclusion, so that the legal consequences attached to the fiction are also treated as real. On that basis, the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of the statutory fiction notwithstanding the absence of an actual licence.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to a deemed licence under section 447(6) and the Corporation was restrained from preventing the petitioner from conducting the retail business at the premises.

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