Bansi Lal Babbar vs State Of Delhi And Ors.
2003 Latest Caselaw 704 Del

JUDGMENT

Badar Durrez Ahmed, J.

1. The petitioner has sought the quashing of the impugned order dated 09.10.2001 to the extent that the petitioner has been directed to obtain a 'No Objection Certificate' from the Fire Department. The impugned order has been passed by the Joint Director (East), Office of the Commissioner of Industries, Government of NCT of Delhi. In the impugned order, it is directed as under:-

"Therefore, I feel that licensee should be allowed to continue with his trade under the license given by the department with the condition that he would obtain a NOC from Fire Department within 4 months of the orders failing which his license shall be cancelled.

The licensee is therefore accordingly directed to appear before the Jt. Director (East) in the first week of February, 2002 Along with the NOC from Fire Department. It is also directed that the department should also issue notices to other similarly placed traders to complete the requirements for running the trade/trades of oil and related activities.

In view of the above the orders dated 4.5.2001 passed by the Jt. Director (East) are revoked under my hand and seal on 4.10.2001."

2. The petitioner is aggrieved by the said order to the extent that the condition of obtaining an NOC from the Fire Department within 4 months has been imposed on him. He is also aggrieved by the fact that if the NOC is not obtained within 4 months, it has been directed that the petitioner's license would be cancelled.

3. The petitioner carries on the trade and business of selling mobile oil and grease from his shop at 441/8, Jheel Chowk, Delhi-110051. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that in terms of the Petroleum Act, 1934, and in particular section 2(bbb) thereof, the petitioner deals in mobile oil and grease falling under Petroleum class 'C' products or in other words 'petroleum products having a flash point of 65ºC and above but below 93ºC. He further pointed to the provisions of section 7 which clearly indicate that no license is necessary for the transport or storage of limited quantities of petroleum class 'C' products. The limit being 45000 litres of petroleum. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner does not hold more than 45000 litres of petroleum and would be clearly covered u/s 7(ii) of the said Act and, therefore, no license for storing or dealing in the petroleum class 'C' products would be necessary. On the basis of this, the petitioner submits that the requirement for obtaining an NOC is redundant and is of no effect.

4. Despite this, however, in view of the direction given in the impugned order dated 09.10.2001, the petitioner applied for a No Objection Certificate vide letter dated 13.10.2001 addressed to the Chief Fire Officer, Lakshmi Nagar, New Delhi. By this letter, the petitioner requested the Fire Department to grant him an NOC as desired by the Joint Director of Industries so that his license could be confirmed. In reply to this application, the Fire Department by its letter dated 12.11.2001 wrote to the petitioner that an NOC from the Chief Fire Officer for the trade of lubricants/grease is not required. It was further indicated in this letter that the Department does not issue NOC for trade in petroleum class 'C' products.

5. To the same effect is the counter-affidavit filed by Sh. R.C. Sharma, Chief Fire Officer, Delhi Fire Station, Connaught Circus, New Delhi on behalf of the respondent No. 3. In this affidavit, it is clearly indicated that the petitioner was informed vide letter dated 12.11.2001 that NOC from the respondent No. 3 for the purposes of trade of lubricants/grease was not required. In paragraph 5 of the counter-affidavit, it is further indicated that in view of the provisions of the Petroleum Act, 1934, no license was required for storage and transportation of petroleum class 'C' products. It is also reiterated that the Fire Department has not issued any NOC to shops for storing or selling lubricants/grease and for transportation of petroleum class 'C' products. In view of these statements and the provisions of the Petroleum Act, 1934, it is clear that the requirement for obtaining a No Objection Certificate from the Fire Department imposed by the impugned order has to be struck down. It may be pertinent to note that the matter may be looked at from another view point also. The Fire Department, having stated clearly that an NOC itself would not be necessary, could be deemed to be a no objection and the requirement of obtaining an NOC would be deemed to have been complied with by the petitioner.

6. In these circumstances, the writ petition is allowed and the impugned order dated 09.10.2001 is set aside to the extent that it requires the petitioner to obtain an NOC from the Fire Department. It is made clear the in all other respects the impugned order continues to be valid. With these directions the writ petition is disposed of. There shall be no orders as to costs.