IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA LPA No.648 of 2007 ARUN KUMAR PASWAN SON OF LATE NIRASH PASWAN RESIDENT OF VILLAGE ALAULI,P.S.ALAULI, DISTRICT KHAGARIA ------- APPELLANT Versus 1.THE UNION OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS,NEW DELHI THROUGH THE CHAIRMAN 2.THE GENERAL MANAGER, HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LTD. EAST ZONE-6,CHURCH LANE, POST BOX NO.114,KOLKATA,700001 3.THE SENIOR REGIONAL MANAGER, HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LTD. REGIONAL OFFICE, PATNA,BIHAR LOK NAYAK JAI PRAKASH BHAWAN,6TH FLOOR, DAK BUNGALO CHOWK,PATNA 80001 4.SRI NAVIN KUMAR, SENIOR SALES OFFICER, HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM LTD. BEGUSARAI 5.THE STATE OF BIHAR THROUGH DISTRICT MAGISTRATE, KHAGARIA 6.THE SENIOR SALES OFFICER, HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM LTD.BEGUSARAI 7.DAHAWAR SADA SON OF BUKHAI SADA BHOOT NATH ROAD,PATNA- 20 (NEAR WATER TANKI) ------- RESPONDENTS ----------- 5/ 10.9.2009 Heard Mr.Narayan Singh for the appellant. This appeal under Clause 10 of the Letters Patent of High Court of Judicature at Patna has been preferred by the petitioner of C.W.J.C.No. 4360 of 2005 (Arun Kumar Paswan.Vrs.The Union of India and others), whereby the writ petition has been dismissed. A brief statement of facts essential for disposal of the appeal may be indicated. The respondent Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is a Public Sector Undertaking of the Government of India, the entire shares of which are held by the President of India 2 or his official nominees. It had issued an advertisement inviting applications to appoint Outlet Retail Dealer for Gogari Jamalpur, District Khagaria. The advertisement, inter alia, stated that the applicant must be a resident of that area. The petitioner as well as respondent no.7 (herein Dahawar Sada) were applicants. On a consideration of their applications in terms of the advertisement, respondent no.7 was granted Retail Outlet Dealership of Gogari Jamalpur. The petitioner preferred C.W.J.C.No. 4360 of 2005, wherein he raised objection that respondent no.7 is not a resident of Gogari Jamalpur and left the place long time ago. In his submission, therefore, respondent no.7 was not eligible to apply for the Retail Outlet Dealership which should be set aside and the same should be granted to the appellant herein because of his second position in the select list. On consideration of the materials on record, the learned Single Judge held that respondent no.7 is a resident of Gogari Jamalpur. He left the place after he joined 3 service, and has returned after his retirement. In that view of the matter, learned Single Judge held that respondent no.7 is a permanent resident of Gogari Jamalpur and is therefore, eligible to apply. The writ petition was accordingly dismissed. Learned counsel for the appellant expressed grievance with respect to the order of the learned Single Judge and submits that an important aspect of the matter has not been considered, namely, the fraud played by respondent no.7 before the Corporation. He relies on the judgment of Supreme Court in the case of Ram Chandra Singh.Vrs. Savitri Devi reported in 2003(4) PLJR(SC) 208, in support of his submission that respondent no.7 has obtained dealership by practicing fraud. He has also taken us through few documents on record to establish the fraud practised by respondent no.7 in obtaining dealership. We have perused the materials on record and considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the petitioner. It appears to us that respondent no.7 is a 4 permanent resident of Gogari Jamalpur. He left the place to join service at Jamshedpur, and has returned to Gogari Jamalpur after his retirement. In that view of the matter, the learned Single Judge, in our view, has rightly held that the absence of the period of service from Gogari Jamalpur will not render respondent no.7 from his status of permanent resident of Gogari Jamalpur. We do not find any error in the order granting dealership. We see no fraud on the part of respondent no.7, and no error in the order. This appeal is accordingly dismissed. ( S.K.Katriar,J.) Tahir/- ( Shyam Kishore Sharma, J.)