IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION NO : 853 of 2002 Between: 1 G.SRINIVAS RAO, S/o. G.Balakishan Rao, R/o. Sadashivpet, Medak District. 2 J.SATISH RAO, S/o. J.Bhaskar Rao, R/o. Sangareddy, Medak District. 3 V.R.PRABHAKAR, S/o. V.Ramakrishna, R/o. Ramachandrapuram, Medak District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 UNION OF INDIA, Rep. by its Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, New Delhi. 2 INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LIMITED, Rep. by its Regional Level Coordinator-cum-Executive Direct. having its office at 5th floor, 139, Nungabakkam High Road, Chennai. 3 HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED, Rep. by its State level Coordinator,having its office at 130/1, Sebastian Road, SECUNDERABAD 500 003 4 BHARAT PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED, Rep. by its Territorial Manager, having its office at Sorojini Devi Road, Secunderabad. 5 BHARAT PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED, Rep. by its Chairman, having its office at Mumbai. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to to issue a writ, order or direction more in the nature of Mandamus declaring the inaction of the fourth respondent in establishing its own outlet at Peddapur in survey nos.410,411& 412,Sadashivpet Mandal,Medak District, for marketing and distribution of petrol and petroleum products, as illegal,arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents, especially the fourth respondent, not to proceed with the construction works to commission the retail outlet at Peddapur in survey nos.410,411& 412,Sadashivpet Mandal,Medak District,pending disposal of above writ petition Counsel for the Petitioners:MR.P.VENUGOPAL Counsel for the Respondents: MR.K.RAGHAVA RAO The Court made the following Order: THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No. 853 of 2002 ORDER: The three petitioners were allotted retail petroleum/diesel outlets in 2001. After following the regular selection process undertaken by third respondent herein – Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), three petroleum outlets of the petitioners were selected in Sadashivpet, Isnapur and Rudraram Mandals of Medak District. The petitioners allege that Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) took land on lease basis for establishing company owned and company operated (COCO) petroleum outlet in Peddapur Village of Sadasivpet Mandal. The petitioners apprehend that new petroleum outlet by BPCL would render their business non-feasible and therefore, they ﬁled instant writ petition. They contend that as per the norms for establishing/starting new petroleum outlets, oil companies have to assess feasibility requirements and ensure that unhealthy competition among the petroleum outlets of diﬀerent oil companies is avoided. It is also contended that BPCL made attempts to establish new petroleum outlet at Peddapur under a scheme of Central Government - Jubliee Retail Outlets Scheme introduced in 2000, which was subsequently withdrawn. Therefore, according to the petitioners, establishment of jubilee retail outlet by BPCL is illegal and arbitrary. The respondents have not ﬁled any counter aﬃdavit. The learned standing counsel for BPCL submits that the oil marketing companies adhere to the norms for setting up retail outlets by private persons as well as COCO outlets. According to him the volume/distance norms for setting up retail outlets (Lone HSD and Combined MS/HSD ROS) (the norms, for brevity) provide for establishing new outlets if the sales of retail outlets are within a radius of 3 kilolitres (kls) but not exceeding 50 kls per month in case of diesel and minimum 25 kls per month and total combined volume of 55 kls per month in case of combined MS/HSD. He placed before this Court a copy of the norms. This Court has perused the norms referred to hereinabove which appear to taken into consideration all aspects of the matter. As per the norms the market is visualized as A class market and B class market. Metropolitan cities and other cities having population over 10 lakhs as per 1981 census are considered as A class market. Cities having population between 2 lakhs and 10 lakhs are considered as B class market. In A class market no HSD outlet should be opened within radius of 3 kls unless average combined MS and HSD thruput of the area exceeds 80 kls per month. This restriction will, however, not be applicable for sites earmarked by the Town Planning Authorities etc and included in the Master Plans (See para II of the norms). Insofar as B class market is concerned as per the norms no HSD outlets should be opened within 5 kls of the municipal limits unless the average combined MS & HSD thruput of area exceeds 80 kls per month. Learned standing counsel, after getting instructions, also submits that each of the petitioners has more than 60 kls of sales. This itself would show that the petitioners did not suﬀer any feasibility problems or financial loss. The matter can also be viewed from other angle. The petitioners were appointed as petroleum/diesel retail dealers after inviting applications to establish such outlets on National Highway–9. This was followed by execution of a dealership agreement by the petitioners. Nothing is placed before this Court either from tender conditions or letter of intent or dealership agreement, which prohibits the petroleum oil company to establish COCO or establish a new retail outlet by private persons. In the absence of such binding covenant in the dealership agreement, BPCL cannot be prevented from establishing COCO. The writ petition is devoid of merits and the same is accordingly dismissed. No costs. _____________ (V.V.S.RAO, J) 13th November, 2008 GHN To 1 UNION OF INDIA, Rep. by its Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, New Delhi. 2 INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LIMITED, Rep. by its Regional Level Coordinator-cum-Executive Direct. having its office at 5th floor, 139, Nungabakkam High Road, Chennai. 3 HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED, Rep. by its State level Coordinator, having its office at 130/1, Sebastian Road, SECUNDERABAD 500 003 4 BHARAT PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED, Rep. by its Territorial Manager, having its office at Sorojini Devi Road, Secunderabad. 5 BHARAT PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED, Rep. by its Chairman, having its office at Mumbai. 6 2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{ANURADHA}