M/S.Padmavathy Gas Agency v. Uni,Rep By Its Secretary
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 24.07.2017
CORAM:
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE S.VAIDYANATHAN W.P.No.18632 of 2004 M/s.Padmavathy Gas Agency, rep. by its sole Proprietrix, 47B, Car Street, Sriperumbudur.
... Petitioner vs.
1.
Union of India, rep. by its Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Commission, New Delhi.
The General Manager, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Thalamuthu Natarajan Building, Gandhi Irwin Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008.
The General Manager, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Tamil Nadu State Office, 139, Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600 034.
The General Manager, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., 1, Ranganathan Gardens, Off: 11th Main Road, Post Bag No.1212 and 1213, Anna Nagar, Chennai 600 040.
5.
The General Manager, IBP Co. Limited, 10, Mayor V.R.Ramanathan Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600 031.
... Respondents Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the issuance of a writ of mandamus, forbearing the respondents 2 to 5, or their men, or agents and persons in any manner from commissioning and appointing LPG Distributorship
at Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram District, in pursuance of notification issued by the respondents 2 to 5 on 26.01.2004 and 11.02.2004 respectively.
For Petitioner :
Mr.S.Vijayakumar For 1st Respondent :
Mr.J.Madhana Gopal Rao For 2nd Respondent :
Mr.Abdul Saleem For Respondents 3 & 5 :
Mr.R.Subramanian For 4th Respondent :
Mr.V.Girish Kumar
O R D E R
The petitioner, who is an LPG Distributor, has come up with the present Writ Petition seeking to forbear respondents 2 to 5 from commissioning and appointing LPG Distributorship at Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram District, in pursuance of the notification issued by respondents 2 to 5 on 26.01.2004 and 11.02.2004, respectively.
Today, when the matter is taken up for hearing, learned counsel appearing for the respondents submitted that the 5th respondent/Company got merged with the 3rd respondent and that the Notification issued by respondents 4 and 5 is the subject matter under challenge by the petitioner.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the relief sought in this Writ Petition has become infructuous. The 3rd respondent has filed counter affidavit today and for better appreciation, relevant paragraphs of the same are extracted hereunder:
"16. I state that revised refill sale limit of the market for the existing distributors and new LPG distributors will be the same as per unified guidelines for the selection of LPG distributor 2016 given below: Unified guidelines for selection of LPG distributors Type of Area Distributor Population as per census 2011 Refill ceiling limit Refill sale P/m for feasibility limit City with population with > 40 lak 20,000 10,000 Sheheri Vitrak City with population 20 to 40 Lak 15,000 7,500 City with population 10 to 20 Lak 12,000 6,000
Type of Area Distributor Population as per census 2011 Refill ceiling limit Refill sale P/m for feasibility limit Ruban Vitrak Town with <10 lakhs 10,000 5,000 Gnam Vitrak Villages/Cluster of Villages 5,000 2,500 Durgam Khetriya Vitrak Villages/Cluster of Villages 1,500 17.
I state that the petitioner is presently having domestic and non-domestic consumers, as follows:
Domestic Non-Domestic Customer Strength (Appr.) 24,500 Sales (No.
of Cylinders) per/month 14,662 18.
I state that the creation of additional distributorships will encourage competition for better service to customers and shall be in the interest of the customers. In case no alternate distributor is available to serve the customers, then only difficulty of customer will arise, as they will not be having any choice."
5.
In view of the above, as the policy/guidelines have changed, there is no need for any adjudication in this matter. However, as the petitioner is an LPG Distributor, it is open to her to seek fresh LPG Distributorship to the 3rd respondent and the same may be considered in accordance with law. The Writ Petition is closed with the above observation. No costs.
s/d- Assistant Registrar(CS VI) True Copy Sub-Assistant Registrar aeb
To:
1.
The Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Commission, Union of India, New Delhi.
The General Manager, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Thalamuthu Natarajan Building, Gandhi Irwin Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008.
The General Manager, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Tamil Nadu State Office, 139, Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai 600 034.
The General Manager, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., 1, Ranganathan Gardens, Off: 11th Main Road, Post Bag No.1212 and 1213, Anna Nagar, Chennai 600 040.
+1 CC to Ms.S. Vijayakumar, Advocate sr 51914 +1 CC to Ms. Abdul Saleem, Advocate sr 52127 +1 Cc to Ms.P.S. Sivasubramanian, Advocate sr 51875. W.P.No.18632 of 2004 SAI(CO) sp(29/08/2017)