PATNA, India, June 26 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on June 24:

Heard the learned counsel for the parties.

The present writ petition has been filed for the following relief(s):-

"That this application is being filed for issuance of appropriate writ/writs for setting aside the letter no.- 603 Anu. dt. 08.04.2024 and letter no. 2006 Anu. dt 28.10.2024 issued by Respondent no. 2 where wrongly the objection raised without any basis only with a view to harass the petitioner whereas the earlier single issue of merely distance between two fuel station however several objection was made one after the another whereas petitioner always tried to meet the query of the department (Anneuxre- P8) whereas without any spot enwuiry respondent no. -2 raised the objection and further direction to respondents no. 3 and 4 to give No Objection certificate to petitioner whereas all the formalities had been completed by the petitioner has already the letter of intent (Annexure- P3) has been issued by Respondent no. -9 for opening and establishing retail outlet in Mauza Ismailganj, P.S-Laheriasarai, DistrictDarbhanga pertains to Khata no 3333, Khesra No.- 26589, 26609, 26610, 26611."

3. It is the case of the petitioner that pursuant to the advertisement issued by the respondents Corporation, the petitioner has applied for allotment of the retail outlet dealership of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in Mauza-Ismailganj, P.SLaheriasarai, District-Darbhanga. That the petitioner has made the application along with all the requisite documents. That the petitioner has applied for 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) from the Land Revenue Department and other Departments and the No Objection Certificate has been given by the above departments, except the Road Construction Department. It is stated that the Respondent No. 4 herein has raised a query with the Respondent No. 5 stating that the distance between the proposed petrol pump of the petitioner and the existing petrol pump is less than 190 mtrs. which is contrary to the IRC:12-2009. Learned counsel has stated that the Indian Road Corporation (IRC) norms are not statutory in nature, and therefore, the reliance placed by the authorities on the said IRS norms is without any legal basis. Further, learned counsel has stated that this Hon'ble Court vide order dated 15.02.2023 passed in C.W.J.C. No. 6111 of 2019 has already held that the guidelines framed by the IRC are not statutory in nature and cannot be enforced. Though the petitioner has submitted the necessary clarification, the authority has not issued the No Objection Certificate in favour of the petitioner and passed the impugned order which is challenged in the present CWJC.

4. Per Contra, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents State has stated that as per the IRC norms the distance between the two petrol pumps should not be less than 300 mtrs., whereas in the present case the distance between the proposed petrol retail outlet and that of the existing petrol retail outlet is only 190 mtrs., therefore, the authority could not grant the No Objection Certificate. Counsel has stated that the orders have been passed by the authority strictly in consonance with the guidelines issued by the IRC and therefore, require no interference.

5. It is pertinent to note that in this particular case the advertisement was issued on 25.11.2018 and the petitioner has been selected and his application approved vide letter of intent (LOI) dated 25.11.2020. Further, in the counter-affidavit filed by the respondents at Para No. 7, it is stated that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Goverment of India has issued guidelines on 26.06.2020 whereunder, the guidelines relating to 'Location Norms on Rural stretches of National Highways' and 'Location Norms of Urban Mountainous stretches of National Highways' was issued in the meeting dated 15.07.2022. The Departmental Tender Committee of Road Construction Department, Bihar resolved to adopt the same. At Para No. 23 of the counter-affidavit, it is further stated that under Letter No. 1585 dated 06.09.2024, the Chief Engineer, North, Road Construction Department, Bihar, Patna has rejected the proposal of issuance of NOC on account of following shortcomings;-

The rest of the document can be viewed at https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/MTUjMTAwMCMyMDI1IzEjTg==-OXEbX2LdOoo=

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