Punjab-Haryana High Court
Smt. Seema Devi vs Indian Oil Corporation on 17 April, 2012
Author: Ajay Kumar Mittal
Bench: Ajay Kumar Mittal
CWP No.8131 of 2011 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH
CWP No.8131 of 2011
Date of decision: 17.4.2012
Smt. Seema Devi
-----Petitioner
Vs.
Indian Oil Corporation, Gurgaon Division Office and another
----Respondents
CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAY KUMAR MITTAL
Present:- Mr. S.P.Chahar, Advocate for the petitioner.
Mr. Ashish Kapoor, Advocate for the respondents.
Ajay Kumar Mittal,J.
1. The petitioner having failed to secure her name in the merit list for allotment of Petrol Pump under "Kisan Sewa Kendras ( KSK)" scheme at Village Matanhail, Tehsil and District Jhajjar has approached this Court under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India challenging that the merit list prepared by the Indian Oil Corporation-respondent is vitiated as inspite of the petitioner owning and possessing 7 kanals 6 marlas of land in the said area, he has not been awarded any marks under the heading "capability to provide infrastructure and facility".
2. Briefly, the facts as mentioned in the petition may be noticed. The respondent-Corporation issued an advertisement in the newspaper on 24.2.2009 inviting applications for allotment of petrol CWP No.8131 of 2011 2 pumps under "Kisan Sewa Kendras (KSK)" Scheme at various places including at Village Matanhail, Tehsil and District Jhajjar reserved for open (female). The petitioner being fully eligible as per the conditions in the advertisement applied by completing the prescribed formalities. The petitioner was informed vide letter Annexure P.3 that the Land Evaluation Committee shall visit her land on 11.6.2009. Vide letter dated 21.12.2009, Annexure P.4, the petitioner was called for interview by the respondents on 7.1.2010. The result of the interview was published and the petitioner came to know that under the heading "capability to provide infrastructure and facility", 0 mark had been awarded to her. Hence the petitioner has filed the present petition impugning the result/mark-sheet dated 7.1.2010, Annexure P.5.
3. Upon notice of motion having been issued, reply has been filed by respondent No.1. An objection has been taken that the retail outlet of the petitioner is in violation of IRC guidelines wherein it has been stipulated that there has to be a clear distance of not less than 300 metres between two adjacent fuel filling stations. It has been averred in the reply that there is another petrol pump existing within the vicinity of 300 metres from the location for which advertisement had been issued. It was thus argued that the allotment cannot be made to the petitioner or to any body else in respect of the said site as it would violate the aforesaid norms. The said objection has been enumerated in the preliminary Objection No.5 as under:-
"That the petitioner has filed the present petition on the ground that the petitioner has been wrongly given "0"CWP No.8131 of 2011 3
marks under the heading 'capability to provide infrastructure'. It is submitted that the land offered by the petitioner did not meet the minimum distance norms of 300 mtrs between the two fuel stations as per IRC norms as there is a BPC RO at a distance of approximately 30 mtrs from the offer site and hence was not suitable for setting up of Kisan Sewa Kendra. The relevant IRC guidelines read as under:-
'Guidelines for setting up of Motor-fuel filling Stations Guidelines as per IRC:12-1983 Basic Principles:
The governing consideration is to minimize, as much as possible, interference to normal flow of traffic on the road by vehicles using the amenity and also to ensure safety.
General conditions of Siting:
1. The Clear distance between two adjacent fuel filling stations (these will also include fuel filling-cum-service station) should not be less than 300 Metres.
2. Fuel filling stations should be well distributed on both sides of the road so that vehicles do not have to cut across the traffic to reach a fuel filling station. The fuel filling station on opposite sides shall be staggered.
3. Siting of fuel filling stations near existing check barriers should be avoided. They should be at least 1 km away from the check barrier.
4. The distance between the tangent points of the curves of the side road and that of the fuel filling station measured in a direction parallel to the centre line of the road should not be less than 100 metres and the station should be located only in the outbound direction. However, on expressway and arterial road having dual carriageway, the distance from the junction should not be less than CWP No.8131 of 2011 4 300 metres."
The said plea of the respondents has not been refuted by the petitioner by filing any replication.
4. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, in my opinion, since the site with regard to petrol pump located at Village Matanhail, Tehsil and District Jahjjar is within 300 metres of another petrol pump and as such is in violation of the IRC guidelines, the writ petitioner cannot succeed.
5. Finding no merit in the petition, the same is dismissed.
April 17, 2012 (Ajay Kumar Mittal
'gs' Judge