Madhya Pradesh High Court
Sultan Singh Chidar vs The Union Of India on 1 March, 2016
1 Writ Petition No.156/2013
(Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others)
01/03/2016
Shri M.P.S. Raghuvanshi, Advocate for the
petitioner.
Shri A.K. Jain, Advocate for respondents.
This writ petition under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India is filed against the order dated
10/9/2012 for the following reliefs:-
"(i). That, the order dt.10-09-2012 (Annexure
P/1) may kindly be quashed.
(ii). That, the advertisement dt. 01-01-2013
(Annexure P/2) to the extent that it has
made the Jamner location available for open
category be quashed and the respondents
may kindly be directed to reserve the
aforesaid location for the schedule caste
category as reserved earlier.
(iii). That, the respondents may further be
directed to accept the application form of the
petitioner and grant the dealership of LPG
for location of Jamner.
(iv). That, the other relief doing justice including
2 Writ Petition No.156/2013
(Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others)
cost be awarded."
Facts relevant for disposal of the writ petition are to
the effect that respondent no.1 issued an advertisement inviting applications from amongst the eligible candidates for award of LPG dealership at different locations vide advertisement Annexure P/3. Petitioner; belonging to scheduled caste category, was amongst other candidates for the location of village Jamner, Tahsil Raghogarh, District Guna. The eligibility condition no.3 amongst others provided under clause 3(b) that the applicant should be the resident of the place of advertised location's city/village (villages). For ready reference clause 3(b) is reproduced hereinbelow:-
^^3- lHkh Jsf.k;ksa ds fy, lkekU; ik=rk ekinaM% ¼aa,½ ---------------
¼aach½ foKIr vkjthth,yoh yksds'ku ds 'kgj@xWako ¼aaoksa½ dk fuoklh gks^^ The petitioner in item no.7.4 of his application stated that he is the resident of village Piproda and in item no.7.3 his postal address is stated as village Piproda, Gram Panchayat Jamner. Several other documents attached by him with his application viz., domicile certificate issued by 3 Writ Petition No.156/2013 (Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others) the Tahsildar, Maksoodangarh dated 11/6/2012, caste certificate, permanent resident letter, notarized affidavit prepared in form "A", certificate issued by Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat Jamner dated 19/6/2012 and income certificate dated 15/6/2012 issued by Tahsildar bear the stipulation that petitioner is the resident of village Piproda. During scrutiny, in view of the aforesaid declaration and certification that petitioner is the resident of village Piproda, his candidature was not accepted on the premise that the petitioner is not the resident of village Jamner, hence, not eligible.
2. At a later stage, after having taken overall view of the matter and respondents reached the conclusion that no suitable candidate in reserved category was found available, therefore, as per clause 4 of the Brochure for Selection of Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak (RGGLV) Annexure R/2/6, the 'reserved category' was changed to "open category" and re-advertised with fresh criteria vide Annexure P/2 dated 01/01/2013.
3. Taking exception to rejection of his candidature and also for re-advertisement, the instant writ petition has 4 Writ Petition No.156/2013 (Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others) been filed by the petitioner.
4. Learned counsel contends that clause 3(b) if read and interpreted harmoniously, village will include villages, hence, for the location village Jamner in Tahsil Raghogarh, adjacent villages, which are falling in Gram Panchayat Jamner, particularly village Piproda shall be deemed to be covered. In the alternate, learned counsel contends that though not with the application submitted for his candidature but at a later stage having come to know that his candidature was not accepted for the aforesaid reason, he had submitted a certificate issued by the Sarpanch, Village Jamner that he had constructed two rooms in House No.399 which has electricity connection and his name appears in the voters list of Gram Panchayat, Jamner. Therefore, rejection of his candidature by the impugned order was illegal. Secondly, respondents have no right to cancel the advertisement and issue fresh advertisement with change of category of candidates declaring it open i.e. general category.
5. Per contra, learned counsel for the 5 Writ Petition No.156/2013 (Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others) respondents/IOCL contended that in the advertisement, Annexure P/3 clearly and unambiguously mentioned the location of various places for which applications were invited for LPG dealership. As in the instance case, the location was specifically Jamner village. Neither the residents of the people of village Piproda nor that of any other village falling under the Gram Panchayat, Jamner were eligible for LPG dealership at Jamner, as contended by learned counsel for the petitioner. If the location was for more than one village then only residents of such other villages could have applied for the LPG dealership. Learned counsel refers to Annexure P/2 to bolster his submission whereunder in some cases, locations are more than one village as indicated in the column meant for location in the advertisement, therefore, the interpretation of clause 3 thereof as contended by the petitioner is self-styled and not correct. That apart, it is submitted that as per clause 4 of the Brochure for Selection of Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak (RGGLV), Annexure R/2/6, the IOCL has the authority to change the category for inviting applications 6 Writ Petition No.156/2013 (Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others) for granting LPG dealership depending upon facts and circumstances of each given case, which reads as under:
"4. De-categorisation For LPG distributorships planned under the present guidelines, following norms for de-categorisation will be applicable:
a) For reserved sub-category locations "GP" (Def+Govt./PSU) and "CC (PH+OSP+FF)", in case of 'Nil" response to the advertisement or no eligible candidate is found or no candidate qualifies or no selected candidate is able to commission to RGGLV, then that location would be re-
advertised in the respective category without sub-category i.e. locations will be advertised as SC/ST, OBC or Open category as applicable.
b) For the location advertised/re-advertised under 'SC/ST' or 'OBC' category, if there is 'Nil' response or no eligible candidate is found or no candidate qualifies or no selected candidate is able to commission the RGGLV, then that location would be re- advertised under 'Open' category.
c) However, it is to be ensured that the reservation is maintained on overall basis by respective OMCs while de-
categorisation of the locations from earlier roster by converting corresponding number of RGGLV locations under 'Open' category 7 Writ Petition No.156/2013 (Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others) form the new roster to 'SC/ST' and 'OBC' category. In other words, shortfall in SC/ST category has to be made good in the future marketing plans.
d) With regard to reserved categories 'GP' & 'CC', reservation percentages will be maintained only at the time of initial categorisation. In other words, once the category of such locations is changed after the first advertisement as no candidate has applied or no eligible candidate is found or no candidate qualifies or no selected candidate is able to commission the RGGLV, no adjustment in the roster would be made under the future marketing plans."
(Emphasis supplied) As in the instant case, the eligible persons were not found in the reserved category (SC), therefore, fresh advertisement dated 01/01/2003 (Annexure P/2) was issued in the open category for the location of village Jamner. Hence, no exception can be taken thereto. With the aforesaid submissions, it is prayed that the writ petition be dismissed.
6. Heard learned counsel for the parties.
7. Award of dealership for LPG by IOCL in fact and in effect is in the realm of commercial dealings/transactions 8 Writ Petition No.156/2013 (Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others) governed by the terms and conditions of the advertisement notified to the public at large. It is an invitation calling for applications from amongst eligible candidates. A candidate by submitting application in the prescribed format is required to ensure fulfillment of requirements under the advertisement. IOCL has absolute right to decide amongst candidates to award the dealership to such candidate best suiting to the requirements for running the LPG dealership on the touchstone of terms and conditions of advertisement. The decision of the IOCL, therefore, is not pregnable in nature in writ jurisdiction unless, of course, there is a complaint of arbitrariness in parting with the privilege granting dealership. Likewise, IOCL has exclusive authority to decide the terms and conditions for award of the dealership as none other than the IOCL is competent to decide such terms and conditions for ensuring selection of right candidate for award of dealership. Therefore, no exception to the right of IOCL can be taken in that behalf.
8. Now turning to the facts of the case, once in the 9 Writ Petition No.156/2013 (Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others) advertisement location for award of dealership is prescribed with the condition that amongst others, the candidate must be resident of that village, it is not open for debate that candidates residing other than that of the location or village are not entitled. Clause 3(b) of the advertisement, Annexure P/3 is required to be understood in the context of location specified in the advertisement and scope therefor cannot be enlarged to the convenience of candidates.
9. Further, fresh advertisement dated 01/01/003 (Annexure P/2) was issued whereunder the award of LPG dealership for the village Jamner has been made open to all. As per counter-affidavit of IOCL, as suitable candidates were not available under the Scheduled Caste category, the change has been made. IOCL since has found it suitable for the purpose of award of LPG dealership, no exception to the change of category to open for all can be taken as it has the authority to change the category in terms of clause 4 of the Brochure quoted above.
10. In the opinion of this Court, no illegality has been 10 Writ Petition No.156/2013 (Sultan Singh Chidar vs. The Union of India and others) committed by the respondents/IOCL in rejecting the candidature of the petitioner for reasons detailed in the order impugned dated 10/09/2012 (Annexure P/1) and while issuing fresh advertisement dated 01/01/2013 (Annexure P/2) whereunder for the location village Jamner, the category has been changed, open for all instead of that of reserved category (SC). Writ petition sans merit and is hereby dismissed, accordingly.
(Rohit Arya) Judge Arun* /b/-