Punjab-Haryana High Court
Bhagwan Balmiki Bhawan Society (Regd.) vs Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. & ... on 5 July, 2012
Author: Rajiv Narain Raina
Bench: Rajiv Narain Raina
CWP No. 1992 of 2002 -1-
IN THE PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT
AT CHANDIGARH
CWP No. 1992 of 2002
Date of Decision: 05.07.2012
Bhagwan Balmiki Bhawan Society (Regd.)
......... Petitioner
Versus
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. & others
............ Respondents
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CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV NARAIN RAINA
Present: Mr. Vivek Sharma, Advocate
for the petitioner.
Mr. Kunal Mulwani, Advocate
for respondents No. 1 to 3.
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1. To be referred to the reporters or not?
2. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest.
RAJIV NARAIN RAINA, J.
1. The prayer in this petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India is for issuing a direction to the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (for short 'the Corporation') for placing on record the letter of intent / allotment of Petrol Pump running at Chhawani Mohalla near Old Sabji Mandi Ludhiana. On such production the prayer is for quashing the lettter of intent with a direction to the Corporation to allot the petrol pump to a candidate from the Scheduled Caste category in accordance with law. The further prayer is for an independent investigation by an impartial agency to enquire into the recommendations in the purchase of land by the Corporation from the 6th respondent Arun Kumar.
CWP No. 1992 of 2002 -2-
2. On notice of motion having been issued the respondent- Corporation has put in appearance and filed a reply.
3. With the written statement the letter of intent has been placed on record as Annexure R-2, which would make the first prayer infructuous. It has been stated under the Corpus Funds Scheme for the Scheduled Caste category candidates, Retail Outlet is to be developed by the respondent-Corporation including the arrangement of land for the purpose of setting up a petrol pump. It is part of the scheme that the respondent-Corporation first hunts for the land at a suitable place, either buys or takes it on lease free from all encumbrances. The Municipal Corporation after determining the circle rates of land duly verified from the office of the Sub Registrar of the area concerned disclosed the price of land between Rs. 10,000/- to Rs. 14,000/- per sq. yard during the relevant period. The effort of the Corporation to buy land did not fructify as the Municipal-Corporation demanded exorbitant price for the land. Therefore, the Corporation entered into an agreement with the 6th respondent of a plot situated at a distance of 50 ft. from the mettled road. There was no encroachment of green belt of the land on which the petrol pump was to come up. The Corporation applied for all permissions and approvals from all government departments including NOC from the District Magistrate, Ludhiana including a proposed service land in front of the site which would facilitate setting up of the petrol pump. On having identified the land for setting up the petrol pump the Corporation invited applications for dealership in the category of Scheduled Caste. The 7th respondent Smt. Kiran Bala was found the most meritorious candidate for grant of dealership and she was so granted the letter of intent Annexure P-2. The Oil Selection Board (Punjab) intimated candidates on 25.6.1995 CWP No. 1992 of 2002 -3- the order of merit in the list in which 7th respondent was placed at Sr. No.1 and advice was given to take letter of intent in favour of Smt. Kiran Bala. There is no dispute that Kiran Bala is a member of Scheduled Caste and, therefore, the contention of the petitioner that the petrol pump should be allotted to a scheduled caste category is misplaced and was probably made in ignorance of facts. In para 3 of the written statement filed by the Corporation it has been categorically asserted that after verification it was found that Smt. Kiran Bala was in fact running the petrol pump and the allegations of the petitioner that the 6th respondent is de facto dealer is contrary to record. I, therefore, see no reason to direct an investigation by an impartial agency to enquire into the recommendations in the purchase of land by the Corporation as prayed for as there is nothing on record to suggest that the Corporation purchased land from the 6th respondent at grossly inflated price and also to suggest that there was any alleged illegal Benami allotment of the petrol pump site, which is meant for scheduled caste category.
In view of the assertions made in the written statement, I see no reason to interfere in this matter in exercise of writ jurisdiction.
This petition is consequently dismissed.
05.07.2012 (RAJIV NARAIN RAINA) 'sp' JUDGE