Uttarakhand High Court
SPA/100/2021 on 9 March, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
AT NAINITAL
THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI RAGHVENDRA SINGH CHAUHAN
AND
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE ALOK KUMAR VERMA
SPECIAL APPEAL No. 100 of 2021
09TH MARCH, 2021
Between:
Nitesh Kumar. ...Appellant
and
Indian Oil Corporation Limited
Dehradun. ...Respondent
Counsel for the appellant : Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal,
learned Senior
Advocate.
Counsel for the respondent : Mr. V.K. Kohli, learned
Senior Advocate
assisted by Mr. Hari
Mohan Bhatia, learned
Advocate.
The Court made the following:
JUDGMENT : (per Hon'ble The Chief Justice Sri Raghvendra Singh Chauhan)
The appellant has challenged the legality of the
order dated 25.02.2021, passed by the learned Single
Judge, in Writ Petition (M/S) No. 456 of 2021, whereby the
learned Single Judge has dismissed the writ petition, inter-
alia, on the ground that the petitioner has challenged the
show-cause notice dated 16.02.2021. However, the show-
cause notice violates neither the civil rights nor the
2
fundamental rights of the petitioner. Hence, the writ
petition is not maintainable.
2. Briefly the facts of the case are that the
appellant claims to be a permanent resident of Gautam
Nagar, Kashipur, District Udham Singh Nagar. He claims to
be the sole proprietor of Sri Sai Indane Gas Agency,
Kashipur, District Udham Singh Nagar, which is under the
distributionship of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, ('the
Corporation', for short) the respondent. According to the
appellant, on 30.09.2013, the Corporation issued a
notice/advertisement inviting applications from the public
for the appointment of distributors under the various
categories, in different locations, in the State of
Uttarakhand, including the location of Kashipur for
dealership of LPG in rural and urban areas. Consequently,
the appellant and his partner, (Ex-wife, Preeti Rani), being
fully eligible for the LPG distribution at Kashipur applied
under the general category; they deposited the requisite
amount. They also offered the land situated in Khasra no.
170 min, Village Laxmipur Patti, Tehsil Kashipur, District
Udham Singh Nagar, ad-measuring 700 square feet.
According to the appellant, the said land had been
purchased by him through a registered sale-deed dated
13.11.2007. The Corporation issued a letter of intent
(LOI), dated 22.06.2015, in favour of the petitioner and
his partner. However subsequently, the petitioner
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requested the Corporation for offering a different and a
better site so that customer satisfaction could be
enhanced. The said alternate site was situated at Dev
Bazar, Bazpur Road, Kashipur, District Udham Singh
Nagar.
3. According to the appellant, he was willing to
offer the said property as it was already constructed and
well furnished. It was a better offer than the land situated
in Laxmipur Patti. By letter dated 15.03.2016, the
Corporation accepted the location of Dev Bazar. The
Corporation further directed the petitioner's firm to
complete the formality including the appointment of the
staff. Thereafter, the Corporation issued a letter of
appointment on 15.03.2016, in favour of the petitioner for
running of distributionship in the name and style of "Sri
Sai Indane Gas Agency". Subsequently, on 18.03.2016,
even the first lot of LPG was sent by the Corporation to the
property owned by the petitioner at Dev Bazar.
4. However, meanwhile, matrimonial dispute arose
between the petitioner and his wife, Preeti Rani.
Consequently, the firm had to be reconstituted. Despite
the fact that the firm has been reconstituted, and the
relevant information has been sent by the petitioner to the
Corporation by the letter dated 28.08.2020, the
Corporation is not executing the distributionship
4
agreement. Instead on 16.02.2021, the Corporation has
issued a show-cause notice to the petitioner, ostensibly on
the ground that the present show-room situated at Dev
Bazar is not meeting the eligibility criteria as discussed in
the advertisement. Aggrieved by the said notice, the
petitioner had filed the writ petition before the learned
Single Judge. However by order dated 25.02.2021, the
learned Single Judge has dismissed the writ petition as
mentioned hereinabove. Hence, this appeal before this
Court.
5. Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal, the learned senior counsel
for the appellant, frankly concedes, and in the opinion of
this Court rightly so, that the learned Single Judge is
justified in concluding that the show-cause notice does not
violate either the civil rights, or the fundamental rights of
a person. Therefore, the writ petition would not be
maintainable before the writ Court. However, the learned
counsel for the appellant seeks the relief that the time
given by the learned Single Judge to the appellant to reply
to the show-cause notice should be extended by this
Court. The prayer made by the learned counsel is certainly
a reasonable one. Sufficient opportunity of hearing has to
be given to the appellant by the Corporation. Therefore,
this Court extends the period and grants two weeks' time
to the appellant to submit his reply to the show-cause
notice. The petitioner shall be free to raise all the
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contentions, which are in his favour, in order to reply to
the show-cause notice. Needless to say, the Corporation is
expected to give a personal hearing to the appellant
before deciding on the show-cause notice. The said
exercise shall be completed within one month from the
date of the filing of the reply by the appellant.
6. The learned Senior counsel for the appellant
further submits that even his request for reconstituting the
partnership is still pending with the Corporation.
Therefore, he further seeks the relief that the Corporation
should be directed to consider his representation and
request for reconstitution of the partnership firm.
Therefore, this Court also directs the Corporation to
consider the reconstitution of the partnership firm as
prayed by the appellant in his representation filed before
the Corporation. The said decision shall also be taken
within a period of one month.
7. With these directions, the appeal stands
disposed of.
_____________________________
RAGHVENDRA SINGH CHAUHAN, C.J.
___________________
ALOK KUMAR VERMA, J.
Dt: 09th March, 2021
Shubham
