PATNA, India, July 30 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on July 14:

1. The petitioners have filed the Writ petition for the following relief:

" To quash the letter No. BDO /SRMP/ Ineligible/ RO 372 dated 07-03-2016 (Annexure-6) and for issuing appropriate writ to the respondents directing them to issue Letter of intent in favour of the petitioner pursuant to advertisement published on 26-10-14 for award of Retail outlet dealership at within 1 k.m. from new bridge over Mani river at Haveli Kharagpur toward Jamui on NH 333 on RHS district- Munger under open category and further direction to the respondents more particularly respondent No. 6 to send proposal to Regional Office, National Highway Authority of India, Patna for obtaining No objection certificate in order to establish the outlet in question.

2. In nutshell the case of the petitioner is that he applied for a retail outlet dealership, pursuant to the advertisement dated 26.10.2014 for the location at "1 KM from new bridge over Mani River at Haveli Kharagpur towards Jamui on NH-222, District Munger" under open category. He was the sole applicant for the said location, and after scrutiny, his application was found in order. Consequently, the Land Evaluation Committee (LEC) visited the proposed site on 12.01.2015.

3. It is submitted that during the visit, the Land Evaluation Committee raised queries, particularly about a nearby intersection. The petitioner explained that the site had sufficient land to construct a service road, as permitted under the NHAI guidelines. Despite this, the Letter of Intent (LOI) was not issued. Upon inquiry, the petitioner learnt that the delay was due to the intersection, near the proposed site.

4. It is submitted by the Learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner submitted a letter dated 05.03.2015, referencing similar cases where NHAI granted NOCs upon proposals sent by oil companies. He also submitted a representation to respondent no. 7, vide letter dated 04.02.2016 (Annexure-4) which clarified that minor deviations in NHAI norms could be considered on merit, if a service road was proposed.

5. It is further submitted that despite of the clarification, respondent no. 6 rejected the petitioner's candidature on 07.03.2016, citing noncompliance with NHAI norms and the presence of an intersection. The petitioner submitted a detailed representation on 14.03.2016 highlighting the deviation policy and requested reconsideration. He also forwarded a copy to the Hon'ble Minister, Oil and Natural Gas, Govt. of India. Subsequently, on his instructions, Under Secretary, Govt. of India, wrote a letter dated 26.05.2016 to Director (Marketing), IOCL to re-evaluate the matter in consultation with NHAI. In response, the Divisional Office of IOCL sought clarification from the Ministry, which confirmed on 30.08.2016 that deviations under Annexure-4 were permissible in all cases.

The rest of the document can be viewed at https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/MTUjODMzIzIwMTgjMSNO-3p2HM--am1--Nb9rI=

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.