IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY FIRST DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TEN PRESENT: THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU WRIT PETITION No.2170 of 2005 Between: Ms. Nunavath Vidya Kumari ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Senior Divisional Retail Sales Manager, Vijayawada Divisional Office, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, GVR Towers, III Floor, Bharathi Nagar, Ring Road, Vijayawada-520 008. 2 Ms. Kithavath Saralakumari 3 Ms. B. Kanaka Durga ..... RESPONDENTS The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU WRIT PETITION No.2170 of 2005 ORDER: This Writ Petition is filed seeking a mandamus to declare the action of the first respondent allotting the petrol pump outlet dealership at Enkur Village, Khammam District, in favour of the second respondent as illegal, arbitrary, contrary to the terms and conditions of the notification, dated 19.12.2003, and in violation of Articles 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution of India and consequently to direct the first respondent to consider the case of the petitioner for appointment for the dealership of petrol pump outlet at Enkur Village, Kahmmam District. 2. It appears that in pursuance of a notification issued on 19.12.2003 by the second respondent inviting applications for dealership of petrol pump outlet at Enkur Village, Khammam District, the petitioner and respondent Nos.2 and 3 and others applied for it. After evaluation of the applications on various aspects such as land, financial condition, intelligence and educational qualifications, capacity to run the business, age, experience and character, etc., the committee had allotted in all 48.3 marks in favour of the second respondent and 40.67 marks in favour of the petitioner. 3. The grievance of the petitioner is that on the count of intelligence and educational qualifications, the second respondent was allotted maximum marks of 15 since she has got a degree of M.B.B.S., whereas, the petitioner was allotted less marks since she possess only Intermediate qualification. When the minimum qualification required is only 10th class, allotting such maximum marks of 15 in favour of the second respondent and others is arbitrary. Secondly, the second respondent is not residing in the Enkur Village and after allotment and erection of the petrol pump, she has left the place and residing elsewhere, along with her husband, and such persons should not have been allotted with the petrol filling station. Further, in the very notification, how many marks are going to be allotted for intelligence and education was not informed. Therefore, on all these counts, the selection of the second respondent for allotment of dealership of petrol filling station at Enkur Village, Khammam District, is arbitrary and deserves to be set aside. 4. The first respondent filed a detailed Counter Affidavit denying the allegations made by the petitioner. At para 4 of the Counter Affidavit, it is stated that Respondent Nos.2 and 3 are not locals is a matter of fact. They are not from Khammam District. The only criteria required for the purpose of submitting the application was that the location of the petrol pump outlet must be located in the tribal area i.e., at Enkur Village, Khammam District and it is reserved for the tribal people and any Indian citizen belonging to tribal community was entitled to apply for the same. The allotment of marks is on the basis of the criteria already evolved and being followed in all such selections. 5. In the present case, the petitioner was awarded 7 marks, whereas the second respondent was awarded 15 marks, as she is having professional qualification of medicine degree (M.B.B.S.). Even otherwise, the second respondent was found to be qualified on other counter. Therefore, she was allotted with the petrol pump outlet dealership. The allegations made by the petitioner are baseless and does not merit consideration. 6. I have given my earnest consideration to the respective submissions made by the learned counsel on either side and perused the material made available on record. 7. Firstly, there is no such criteria that the person applying for the dealership of petrol pump outlet should be a local candidate. Even according to the notification, the allotment of petrol pump at Enkur Village, Khammam District, was reserved for tribal candidates. Any tribal being Indian citizen can apply for the same. In this case, Respondent Nos.2 and 3 are Indian citizens and second respondent has all the qualifications, particularly the qualification of professional degree of Medicine (M.B.B.S.) and therefore, she was allotted 15 marks. At this stage, having participated in the process of selection, particularly on the ground that there were no details furnished in the notification as to earmarking of the marks for holding higher educational qualifications, the notification can be challenged. 8. The second respondent is an Indian citizen and she was more qualified compared to that of the petitioner and the marks obtained by the petitioner was 40.67, whereas the marks obtained by the second respondent was 48.3. Even otherwise, she cannot be considered immediately because there was another candidate i.e., the third respondent herein who got 44.67 marks. Therefore, I am of the opinion that the Writ Petition is devoid of merit and is liable to be dismissed. 9. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. _______________ (C.V.RAMULU, J) Date: 21st January, 2010. KL