Allahabad High Court
Atul Pratap Singh Chauhan vs State Of U.P. And 3 Others on 5 August, 2019
Bench: Pradeep Kumar Singh Baghel, Piyush Agrawal
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Court No. - 21 Case :- WRIT - C No. - 25667 of 2019 Petitioner :- Atul Pratap Singh Chauhan Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ramesh Singh Kushwaha,Narayan Singh(Kushwaha) Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Vikas Budhwar Hon'ble Pradeep Kumar Singh Baghel,J.
Hon'ble Piyush Agrawal,J.
(Delivered by Hon'ble Piyush Agrawal, J.) By means of the present writ petition, the petitioner has sought, amongst other, following relief:-
"B. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent no. 5 / Additional District Magistrate, Etah and respondent no. 3 / Executive Engineer, Prantiya Khand, Lok Nirman Vibhag, Etah to grant no objection certificate to the petitioner for establishment retail outlet (Patrol Pump) on location plot no. 362 at Village Mitaulia, Block - Aliganj on Aliganj Kampil Road, District - Etah, State of U.P, open category."
The facts of the case, in brief, are that on 24.09.2018, the respondent no. 4 - Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited published an advertisement for award of retail outlet dealership at the location of plot no. 362 at Village - Mitaulia, Block - Aliganj on Aliganj - Kampil Road, District - Etah. On 15.12.2018, the petitioner, being eligible and qualified for the aforesaid retail outlet dealership, applied. After draw of lots, vide letter dated 25.05.2019, the respondent no. 4 directed the petitioner to collect the letter of intent for the retail outlet dealership. A letter of intent dated 31.05.2019 was issued to the petitioner for retail outlet dealership of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.
As per the procedure, the respondent no. 4, vide letter dated 13.06.2019, requested the District Magistrate, Etah to approve no objection certificate in respect of the aforesaid location.
The District Magistrate, Etah, vide letter dated 28.06.2019, requested Prabhagiya Nideshak Ssamajik, Waniki Prabhag, Etah, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Aliganj, Senior Officer (Pollution Control), Aliganj, Mukhya Agni Saman Adhikari, Etah, Additional Chief Officer, Etah, Executive Engineer Prantiya Khand, PWD, Etah to make available the inquiry report with recommendation as to the no objection certificate in respect of the establishment of retail outlet on the aforesaid plot no. 362.
No objection certificates have been issued by all the Departments in respect of establishment of retail outlet on the aforesaid plot no. 362, but the Executive Engineer, Prantiya Khand, PWD, vide his letter dated 19.07.2019 addressed to the District Magistrate, refused to grant no objection certificate on the ground that in the location plan of the map, the minimum distance of the site of retail outlet (Petrol Pump) from the intersection must be 300 meters; whereas, the distance from the site of proposed retail outlet is 280 meters from the road, which is going to Village - Satota and as such, the same is not fulfilling the guidelines provided in the circular dated 24.07.2013 issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, New Delhi.
On 24.07.2019, the Additional District Magistrate, Etah informed the respondent no. 4 that on the basis of the letter dated 19.07.2017 of the Executive Engineer, issuance of no objection certificate in respect of the map for the retail outlet on the location plan is not possible and refused to grant no objection certificate.
Aggrieved by the aforesaid refusal for grant of no objection certificate, the present writ petition has been preferred by the petitioner.
We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner, Shri Ramesh Singh Kushwaha, learned standing counsel for the State - respondent nos. 1, 2, 3 & 5 and learned counsel for the respondent no. 4, Shri Vikas Budhwar.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the respondents' action is unjustified in not granting no objection certificate for running the petrol pump at the location in question, which is on the district road and not on the National Highway. Moreover, the circular dated 24.07.2013 issued by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India is not applicable in the case of the petitioner as the location of the retail outlet is not on the National Highway, but the same is on the district road and rural area.
He further submits that the issue involved in the present writ petition has attained finality and this Court in various cases has held that the circular dated 24.07.2013 will not be applicable if the retail outlet is not situated on the National Highway. The learned counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance on the judgement of the coordinate Bench of this Court in Rajeev Kumar Vs. State of U.P. & 3 Others (Writ C No. 10196 of 2019, decided on 18.04.2019). The aforesaid judgement is quoted below:-
"The petitioner is aggrieved by the refusal to grant "No Objection Certificate" for running a petrol pump on the location 6 to 8 Kms. between Aliganj Road, District Etah which is other district road and not a National Highway.
The aforesaid refusal is on the basis of the circular dated 24.07.2013 which provides that no petrol pump within the radius of 300 meters of the existing one shall be established on the National Highway.
The said government circular is not applicable for establishing a petrol pump on other district roads. It applies only in respect of National Highways.
The aforesaid controversy arising from the aforesaid circular has already been settled by a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Deepak Agarwal Vs. State of U.P. and others 2014(6) ADJ 270 (DB) as well as by the decision dated 08.12.2017 by another Division Bench in Writ-C 58534 of 2017, Ashwani Kumar Singh Vs. State of U.P. and 7 others and the order dated passed in Writ-C No.634 of 2019, Farzana Khatoon Vs. Union of India and 4 others.
Learned counsel for the parties agree that the controversy is squarely covered by the above decisions.
In view of above, the writ petition is allowed in terms of the above decisions and the respondents are directed to reconsider the application of the Hindustan Petrol Pump Corporation Ltd. for the grant of the no objection certificate for running a petrol pump at the relevant side in favour of the petitioner.
In the light of the directions and observations made in the above referred judgements. The application shall be reconsidered within a period six weeks from the date a copy of this order is produced before him.
Accordingly, the writ petition is allowed. "
Learned counsel for the respondents could not dispute the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner.
Keeping in view the aforesaid facts and circumstances and judgement of the Division Bench of this Court, the writ petition is allowed in terms of the aforesaid decisions.
The respondents are directed to reconsider the application of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. for grant of no objection certificate for running a petrol pump at the relevant site in favour of the petitioner, in the light of the directions and observations made in the judgement, referred to above.
The application shall be reconsidered within a period one month from the date of production of a certified copy of this order.
Order Date :- 5.8.2019/Amit Mishra