{"id":110469,"date":"1996-09-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1996-09-24T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/common-causea-registered-society-vs-union-of-india-others-on-25-september-1996"},"modified":"2018-04-19T16:55:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T11:25:49","slug":"common-causea-registered-society-vs-union-of-india-others-on-25-september-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/common-causea-registered-society-vs-union-of-india-others-on-25-september-1996","title":{"rendered":"Common Causea Registered Society vs Union Of India & Others on 25 September, 1996"},"content":{"rendered":"
Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n
Common Causea Registered Society vs Union Of India & Others on 25 September, 1996<\/div>\n
Author: K Singh<\/div>\n
Bench: Kuldip Singh, Faizan Uddin<\/div>\n
           PETITIONER:\nCOMMON CAUSEA REGISTERED SOCIETY\n\n\tVs.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nUNION OF INDIA & OTHERS\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT:\t25\/09\/1996\n\nBENCH:\nKULDIP SINGH, FAIZAN UDDIN\n\n\n\n\nACT:\n\n\n\nHEADNOTE:\n\n\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n
\t\t      J U D G M E N T
\nKULDIP SINGH J.\n<\/p>\n
     The allotments of retail outlets for petroleum products
\n(the petrol  pumps), by\t Capt. Satish  Sharma,\tMinister  of
\nState for  Petroleum & Natural Gas, exercising the powers of
\nthe Central  Government, have been challenged in this public
\ninterest petition  under Article  32 of\t the Constitution of
\nIndia. The petition as originally filed was directed against
\ncorruption in  various\tfields\tof  public  life.  Mr.\tH.D.
\nShourie –  Director “Common  Cause” –  appearing in  person,
\ninvited this  Court’s attention\t to a news item dated August
\n11, 1995,  on the  front page  of “Indian Express” under the
\ncaption “In Satish Sharma’s Reign, Petrol and Patronage Flow
\nTogether”. The\tsolicitor general  who was present in Court,
\ntook notice  of the news item and stated that the would have
\nthe matter  examined in\t the Ministry  concerned and file an
\naffidavit giving  Ministry’s response  to the news item. The
\nnews item, inter alia, stated as under:-\n<\/p>\n
     “Not only\tthe relatives of most of
\n     the officials  working for\t Captain
\n     Satish  Sharma  but  even\this  own
\n     driver  and   the\tdriver\t of  his
\n     additional Private\t Secretary  have
\n     been allotted  a petrol  pump and a
\n     gas agency respectively.
\n     The  wives\t of  two  clerks  and  a
\n     stenographer in  the Ministry  have
\n     similarly\tbeen   allotted\t  petrol
\n     pumps.  Some  of  these  allotments
\n     have    been    made    from    the
\n     discretionary   quota    with   the
\n     Petroleum\tMinister   while  others
\n     have   been    made   through    an
\n     ostensibly\t  objective    selection
\n     process  undertaken   by  the   Oil
\n     Selection\t    Boards\t (OSBs).
\n     ……….A Mr  Poda  Rajshekar,  a
\n     relative  of   Mr.\t G.  Gurusharan,
\n     Private Secretary to Captain Sharma
\n     has been  allotted a petrol pump at
\n     Banjara Hills, Hyderabad out of the
\n     Minister’s\t  discretionary\t   quota
\n     taking  pity   on\tthe   “financial
\n     circumstances that the family finds
\n     itself in.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Ms Madhuri\t Safaya, a  relation  of
\n     the Additional Private Secretary to
\n     the Minister,  Mr. V.N.  Safaya has
\n     been allotted  a  petrol  pump  “on
\n     compassionate  grounds”   from  the
\n     discretionary quota.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Another  relation\tof  Mr.\t Safaya,
\n     Mrs. Monica  Malla, has also been a
\n     beneficiary  of   a  petrol   pump,
\n     courtesy Captain Sharma.
\n     Mrs Daya  Rani, wife of Mr Hari Ram
\n     Verma, personal  assistant\t to  the
\n     Additional PS  to the  Minister, Mr
\n     V.N. Safaya,  was allotted a petrol
\n     pump out of the discretionary quota
\n     ……..Mrs Vijaya\t Nair,\twife  of
\n     Mr, D.V. Pillai, another additional
\n     Private Secretary to Captain Sharma
\n     has been  allotted a petrol pump on
\n     the grounds  that the “applicant is
\n     a young unemployed [woman] with the
\n     responsibility of\tlooking after  a
\n     large family”  –  hardly  a  unique
\n     classification in\tthis country  of
\n     900 million. …….The Chairman of
\n     the  OSB\tfor  Uttar   Pradesh  is
\n     Justice  S.H.   Abidi  (retd.)  who
\n     lives at  50, Dariyabad, Allahabad.
\n     It so  happens  that  Syed\t Shaukat
\n     Hasan Abidi,  his\tson,  living  at
\n     50\/1, Daryabad,  Allahabad put in a
\n     request and  was allotted\ta petrol
\n     pump on  “compassionate grounds” at
\n     Fatehpur  (80  Km\tMile  Stone)  in
\n     Uttar Pradesh.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     A former  MLA, Mr Shiv Balak Passi,
\n     from Rae  Bareli is a member of the
\n     OSB for  Madhya Pradesh and his job
\n     is to allot petrol pumps to others.
\n     He too had put in a request for the
\n     discretionary  allotment\tof   the
\n     petrol  pump.  Lo\tand  behold,  on
\n     “compassionate  grounds”\the   was
\n     immediately allotted  a petrol pump
\n     on the  Rae Bareli-Lucknow\t Road in
\n     UP.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr.  Krishna  Swaroop,  a\tCongress
\n     party worker  and resident of 18\/7,
\n     Punjabi Bagh  Extension, New Delhi-
\n     26 is a member of the OSB for Delhi
\n     and chandigarh. His son, Mr Pradeep
\n     Kumar, was\t favoured with\ta petrol
\n     pump by the Minister on the grounds
\n     that “the\tapplicant is a young man
\n     from Scheduled Caste Community with
\n     no source\tof regular  income.  The
\n     case      deserves\t     sympathetic
\n     consideration. Therefore,\ta retail
\n     Outlet  for  MS-HSD  in  the  Union
\n     Territory of  Delhi is  allotted to
\n     Shri  Pradeep   Kumar,  r\/o   18\/7,
\n     Punjabi Bagh  Extension, New Delhi-
\n     110026.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr. Ghulam\t Ahmed\tMir  is\t also  a
\n     member of\tthe OSB\t for  Delhi  and
\n     Chandigarh. An application was made
\n     by\t him  for  the\tallotment  of  a
\n     petrol  pump.   And  the\tMinister
\n     passed the\t order on “compassionate
\n     grounds”  from   his  discretionary
\n     quota.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Similarly\t the\tfollowing    OSB
\n     members, either themselves or their
\n     next of  kin,  have  been\tallotted
\n     petrol  pumps   :\tMr  K.L.  Sharma
\n     (Member OSB,  West Bengal), Mr R.S.
\n     Nautiyal (Member  OSB, Punjab), and
\n     Mr Harbanslal  Gupta  (member  OSB,
\n     Haryana). Two relation of Mrs Satya
\n     Bahen (Member  OSB,  Haryana)  were
\n     allotted a gas agency in Etah and a
\n     petrol  pump   at\t Itmadpur   near
\n     Tundla, respectively.
\n     The son  of a  former Home Minister
\n     who   is\t currently   a\t Cabinet
\n     Minister;\tthe  son  of  a\t present
\n     Minister of  State from  the North-
\n     East;  the\t  brother-in-law  of   a
\n     former Janata Dal office-bearer and
\n     now a  Congressman from Eastern UP;
\n     the son  of a  Dalit leader who was
\n     with the  late H.N. Bahuguna at one
\n     time and  is now  in the  Congress;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     the   son\t  of   former\tCongress
\n     Councillor\t  of\tthe    Municipal
\n     Corporation of  Delhi; the\t wife of
\n     an\t ex-Congress   MP  from\t the  UP
\n     hills;  the  wife\tof  a  prominent
\n     Dalit leader  in the Opposition and
\n     several political hacks from Amethi
\n     are among\tthe  hundreds  who  have
\n     been gifted  petrol  pumps\t or  gas
\n     agencies  during\tthe  tenure   of
\n     Captain  Satish   Sharma\tas   the
\n     Petroleum Minister.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr. Vijay\tL. Kelkar,  Secretary  in  the\tMinistry  of
\nPetroleum  and\tNatural\t Gas,  government  of  India,  filed
\naffidavit dated\t October 9,  1995. The\trelevant part of the
\naffidavit is as under:-\n<\/p>\n
     “It may  be relevant  to point  out
\n     here  that\t  under\t  the\tapproved
\n     Guidelines,  the  Hon’ble\tMinister
\n     personally decides\t each  case  and
\n     the order\tis a  speaking order. An
\n     unsuccessful applicant  in the same
\n     category is entitled to have a copy
\n     of the  order if  a request is made
\n     for it.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     The specific  instances referred to
\n     in\t the  Indian  Express  newspaper
\n     dated 11th\t August, 1995, appear to
\n     relate to\tallotments made prior to
\n     the order\tof  this  Hon’ble  Court
\n     dated 31st\t March,\t 1995.\tHowever,
\n     those allotments  also were made on
\n     merits of\teach case  as  appearing
\n     from   the\t   applications\t   which
\n     contained the  circumstances  under
\n     which the request was made. For the
\n     cases mentioned  in  the  newspaper
\n     report,  it   is  denied  that  the
\n     allotments were  made on account of
\n     alleged  relationship   and\/or  any
\n     improper motive.  The  relationship
\n     of a applicant with any official of
\n     the  Ministry   has  not\tbeen   a
\n     relevant  factor  in    considering
\n     discretionary     allotment      on
\n     compassionate grounds.  Should this
\n     Hon’ble Court  direct, the relevant
\n     files shall be produced for perusal
\n     for this Hon’ble Court.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     This Court\t examined the  affidavit of  Mr.  Kelkar  on
\nOctober 13, 1995 and passed the following order:-\n<\/p>\n
     “Mr. Vijay\t L. Kelkar, Secretary in
\n     the  Ministry   of\t Petroleum   and
\n     Natural Gas,  Government  of  India
\n     has filed\tan affidavit pursuant to
\n     this Court’s order dated August 11,
\n     1995.  Without  commenting\t on  the
\n     affidavit, we  direct the\tMinistry
\n     of Petroleum  and\tNatural\t Gas  to
\n     file a further and better affidavit
\n     within two\t weeks with reference to
\n     the specific instances.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Pursuant to  the above  quoted order  Mr. Kelkar  filed
\naffidavit dated\t October 28,  1995. The relevant part of the
\naffidavit is as under:-\n<\/p>\n
     “That the\tDeponent, in  compliance
\n     with  the\tsaid  order  dated  13th
\n     October, 1995,  has ascertained the
\n     position regarding\t the allegations
\n     that    allottees\t   under     the
\n     discretionary quota  are related to
\n     various\t political\tleaders,
\n     officials\tand   members\tof   Oil
\n     Selection\tBoards\t (OSBs)\t or  the
\n     members themselves.  Such allottees
\n     can   be\t grouped   under   three
\n     different categories and allegation
\n     regarding\teach   one  of\tthem  is
\n     answered  and\/or\tdealt  with   as
\n     follows:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     A ALLOTTEES  SAID TO  BE RELATED TO
\n     POLITICIANS\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (i)   With\t   reference   to    the
\n     allegation that the son of a former
\n     Home Minister,  who is  currently a
\n     Cabinet Minister, has been allotted
\n     a Petrol  Pump,….. It  is correct
\n     that  the\tallottee,  Shri\t Sarbjot
\n     Singh is  the son\tof the said Shri
\n     Buta Singh.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (ii)   with    reference\tto   the
\n     allegation\t that\tthe  son   of  a
\n     present  Minister\t of  State  from
\n     North-East,  has  been  allotted  a
\n     petrol  pump.  …..It  is\t correct
\n     that the  said allottee  is the son
\n     of\t a  Minister,  namely,\tShri  K.
\n     Hollahan, in  the State  Government
\n     of Nagaland.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     B. ALLOTTEES  SAID TO BE RELATED TO
\n     THE MEMBERS  OF OSBs OR THE MEMBERS
\n     THEMSELVES.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (i)   With\t   reference   to    the
\n     allegation that  Shri Syed\t Shaukat
\n     Hasan Abidi  is the  son of Justice
\n     S.H.  Abidi  (retd.),  who\t is  the
\n     Chairman  of   the\t OSB  for  Uttar
\n     Pradesh,…….\t   Discretionary
\n     allotment was made in favour of the
\n     applicant in  January, 1995.  It is
\n     correct that  the said  allottee is
\n     the son of the said Chairman of OSB
\n     for U.P.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (ii)   With    reference\tto   the
\n     allegation\t that  Shri  Shiv  Balak
\n     Passi is  a member\t of the\t OSB for
\n     Madhya Pradesh and he is himself an
\n     allottee from  discretionary quota,
\n     ……….\t    A\t   discretionary
\n     allotment\twas  sanctioned\t in  his
\n     favour in\tDecember.  1994.  It  is
\n     correct that Shri Passi is a Member
\n     of the OSB for Madhya Pradesh.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (iii)   With   reference\tto   the
\n     allegation that  the allottee, Shri
\n     Pradeep Kumar,  is the  son of Shri
\n     Krishna Swaroop  who is a Member of
\n     OSB  for\tDelhi  and   Chandigarh,
\n     ……  It\t  is  correct  that  the
\n     allottee is  the son  of  the  said
\n     Shri Krishna Swaroop.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (iv)   With    reference\tto   the
\n     allegation that  the allottee, Shri
\n     Ghulam Ahmad Mir is a Member of OSB
\n     for Delhi\tand Chandigarh,…..  It
\n     is correct\t that Shri Mir is Member
\n     of the OSB, Delhi.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (v)   With\t   reference   to    the
\n     allegation that Shri R.S. Nautiyal,
\n     who is a Member of OSB, Punjab, has
\n     been allotted  a Petrol Pump either
\n     in his  own name  or in the name of
\n     his next  of kin, it is stated that
\n     Smt.   Nena   Nautiyal,   made   an
\n     application in  August, 1994, …..
\n     It\t is   correct  that   Smt.  Nena
\n     Nautiyal is  the wife  of Shri R.S.
\n     Nautiyal, a Member of OSB, Punjab.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (vi)   With    reference\tto   the
\n     allegation that  a Petrol\tPump was
\n     allotted to Shri Justice Harbanslal
\n     Gupta, a Member of OSB, Haryana, in
\n     his own  name or in the name of his
\n     next of  kin, it is stated that one
\n     Shri  Arun\t  K.   Gupta   made   an
\n     application  in   September,  1993,
\n     ……. It\t is  correct  that  Shri
\n     Arun Kumar Gupta is the son of Shri
\n     Justice  Harbanslal  Gupta\t (Retd.)
\n     who is  the Chairman  of  the  OSB,
\n     Haryana.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (viii)  With   reference\tto   the
\n     allegation that  two  relations  of
\n     Smt. Satya\t Bahin, a  Member of the
\n     OSB for  Haryana, were  allotted  a
\n     Gas Agency and a Petrol Pump, it is
\n     stated that one Shri Dharmesh Kumar
\n     made an  application In  September,
\n     1994,…..\t   Along     with    his
\n     application     there     was     a
\n     recommendation  for   discretionary
\n     allotment from Smt. Satya Bahin, Ex
\n     Member  of\t Parliament…..  It  is
\n     stated  that  the\trelationship  of
\n     Shri Dharmesh Kumar with Smt. Satya
\n     Bahin is not known.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     C. ALLOTTEES  WHO ARE  SAID  TO  BE
\n     RELATED TO VARIOUS OFFICIALS IN THE
\n     MINISTRY.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (i)   The\t  allegation   is   that
\n     relatives of  the\tDrivers\t of  the
\n     Minister  and   of\t the  Additional
\n     Private Secretary\tto the\tMinister
\n     have been\tallotted Petrol Pump and
\n     Gas Agency.  It has been found that
\n     one Smt.  Leela Devi,  wife of late
\n     Shri   Kishan   Swaroop   made   an
\n     application that  her  husband  was
\n     brutally murdered on 25.1.1994, she
\n     had no  means of  income to support
\n     her family and that she belonged to
\n     a Scheduled  Caste. A retail outlet
\n     was allotted  to Smt. Leela Devi on
\n     compassionate  grounds   from   the
\n     discretionary quota  in may,  1995.
\n     It has  now been  ascertained  that
\n     Smt. Leela\t Devi happens  to  be  a
\n     relative  of   a  Driver\tof   the
\n     Minister.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (ii)   With    reference\tto   the\n     allegation\t   that\t    Shri    Poda\n<\/pre>\n
     Rajasekhar is a relative of Shri G.
\n     Gurucharan,  Private  Secretary  to
\n     the Minister of State, it is stated
\n     that an  application  was\tmade  by
\n     Shri Rajasekhar  in July, 1993,….
\n     A Retail  Outlet Dealership for MS-
\n     HSD at  Secunderabad was sanctioned
\n     to Shri Rajasekhar on compassionate
\n     grounds. It  has  been  ascertained
\n     that  the\t said  allottee\t  is   a
\n     relative\tof    the   said    Shri
\n     Gurucharan.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (iii)   With   reference\tto   the
\n     allegation that  Ms. Madhuri Safaya
\n     is a  relative of Shri B.N. Safaya,
\n     Additional Private Secretary to the
\n     Minister, to  whom a  Retail Outlet
\n     has been allotted,….. It has been
\n     ascertained that  she is related to
\n     the said Shri B.N. Safaya.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (iv)   With    reference\tto   the
\n     allegation that Ms. Monica Malla is
\n     also related  to Shri  B.N. Safaya,
\n     …… A Retail Outlet was allotted
\n     to her  in November,  1994\t out  of
\n     discretionary quota.  It  has  been
\n     ascertained that the said Ms. Malla
\n     is related to the wife of Shri B.N.
\n     Safaya.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (v)   With\t   reference   to    the
\n     allegation that  the allottee, Mrs.
\n     Daya Rani, is the wife of Shri H.R.
\n     Verma, Personal  Assistant\t to  the
\n     Additional Private Secretary to the
\n     Minister, Shri B.N. Safaya,….. It
\n     is correct that the allottee is the
\n     wife of Shri H.R. Verma.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     (vi)   With    reference\tto   the
\n     allegation that  Mrs. Vijaya  Nair,
\n     who has  been sanctioned  a  Retail
\n     Outlet, is\t the wife  of Shri  D.V.
\n     Pillai,\t Additional\t Private
\n     Secretary\tto   the   Minister   of
\n     State,…. It  has been ascertained
\n     that Mrs.\tVijaya Nair  is not  the
\n     wife of  Shri D.V.\t Pillai, but she
\n     is related to him”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     This  Court   issued  notice  to  all  the\t 15  persons
\nmentioned in  the affidavit  of Mr. Kelkar. Thirteen, out of
\nthem filed  affidavits justifying  the allotments  of petrol
\npumps made to them by Capt, Satish Sharma.\n<\/p>\n
     This Court by the order dated December 6, 1995 directed
\nthat “the  minister may, if he so desires, file an affidavit
\nin this\t regard”. Capt.\t Satish\t Sharma\t has,  however,\t not
\nchosen to file any affidavit.\n<\/p>\n
     The relevant records have been produced before us.
\n     Mr. Sarbjot  Singh in his application mentioned that he
\nwas a  commerce graduate  belonging to\tthe scheduled  caste
\ncommunity. He  completed graduation in the year 1991. He was
\ninterested in  sports  (shooting)  and\twon  awards  at\t the
\nnational level.\t Because  of  his  pre-occupation  with\t the
\nsports, he  had average academic record and as a consequence
\ncould not  get admission  to any  professional\tcourses.  He
\nfurther stated\tthat in\t spite of  his best efforts he could
\nnot get\t any suitable  employment for supporting himself and
\nas such\t a petrol pump in Delhi be allotted to him. The file
\ndoes not indicate how the application was entertained. There
\nis no  receipt\/entry on the application. No official\/officer
\nhas examined  the application  before the  Minister’s order.
\nThere is  nothing to shown that any guide-lines were kept in
\nview. The  application, obviously,  was given by hand to the
\nMinister, who readily passed the allotment order. There is a
\nseparate sheet containing the order of the Minister which is
\nas under:-\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister of State
\n\t\t (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Shri Sarbjot Singh for allotment of
\n     a Retail  Outlet dealership for MS-
\n     HSD. The  applicant has stated that
\n     he\t is   a\t graduate   without  any
\n     suitable employment
\n     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 31\/1<\/span>
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is  an
\n     unemployed graduate and a sportsman
\n     who participated  in national level
\n     competitions. The applicant has not
\n     been  able\t to  get  any\t gainful
\n     employment and is unable to support
\n     himself.\t The\tcase\tdeserves
\n     sympathetic\t  consideration.
\n     Therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSD   in\tthe   National\t Capital
\n     Territory of  Delhi is  allotted to
\n     Shri Sarbjot  Singh r\/o  16,  Ashok
\n     Road New Delhi.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\t    Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Thereafter, the  matter was processed in the office and
\nin one\tof the\tnotes by  an officer  of the ministry it was
\nmentioned that\tthe allottee  “is son  of Shri\tButa  Singh,
\nMinister of Civil Supplies”. No one took notice of this fact
\nand the allotment order was issued.\n<\/p>\n
     In all  the cases\tdiscussed hereinafter the pattern of
\nallotment and the method and procedure followed was the same
\nas in Sarbjot Singh’s case.\n<\/p>\n
     Benjamin K.  Hollohon stated in his application that he
\nwas an\teducated unemployed  youth  and\t also  active  party
\nworker in  the area.  He belonged  to scheduled\t tribe\tfrom
\nNagaland  State.   He  requested   in  the  application\t for
\nallotment of  petrol pump  in Purana  Bazar area  of Dimapur
\ntown, Nagaland.\t The application  was sent to Captain Satish
\nSharma by  Mr. K. Hollohon, Minister, Industry and Commerce,
\nNagaland (Father  of the applicant) along with a d.o. letter
\nwhich reads as under:-\n<\/p>\n
     “Me dear Capt. satish Sharma,
\n     Kindly recall  our\t discussions  of
\n     date  regarding  allotment\t of  one
\n     retail outlet petrol pump (petrol &
\n     Diesel) in the Purana Bazar area of
\n     Dimapur town  in Nagaland in favour
\n     of my son Benjamin K. Hollohon.
\n     As\t  you\tmay   be   aware,   that
\n     Benjamin’s\t  application\tand   my
\n     earlier note  in  this  regard  are
\n     available\t in    your    Ministry.
\n     However, I\t am again enclosing copy
\n     of Benjamin’s  application for your
\n     perusal.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     It was indeed pleasure to note that
\n     you  have\tvery  kindly  agreed  to
\n     allot one\tpetrol pump  in favor of
\n     my son  Shri Benjamin after careful
\n     and due  consideration  as\t a  very
\n     very   special    case.   I   shall
\n     personally grateful  if  you  could
\n     kindly use\t your  good  offices  in
\n     issuing  suitable\tinstructions  to
\n     the  officials  concerned\tin  your
\n     Ministry  so   that  the\tpossible
\n     bureaucratic delays are averted and
\n     the permit\t is issued  without much
\n     loss of  time. Therefore, I request
\n     your personal  intervention in  the
\n     matter. I\thope, you  can very well
\n     appreciate my  predicament\t in  the
\n     matter and am sure, you will do the
\n     needful.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     The allotment order by the Minister is reproduced here-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
under:-\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minster of State
\n\t\t (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Shri  Benjamin   K.  Hollohon   for
\n     allotment of  a retail  outlet  for
\n     MS-HSD. The  applicant  has  stated
\n     that  he  is  an  unemployed  youth
\n     belonging\t to    Scheduled   Tribe
\n     community. The  applicant has  also
\n     stated  he\t no  regular  source  of
\n     income.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 10\/10\/94
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is  an
\n     educated unemployed Scheduled Tribe
\n     youth  without  regular  source  of
\n     livelihood.   The\t case\tdeserves
\n     sympathetic\t  consideration.
\n     Therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSD  at   Purana  Bazar,\tDimapur,
\n     Nagaland  is   allotted   to   Shri
\n     Benjamin\t K.\tHollohon     r\/o
\n     Durgapathar, 2  1\/2 Mile,\tDimapur,
\n     Nagaland, Pine Code-797 112.
\n     Necessary\torders\t may  be  issued
\n     accordingly.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t       Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Syed Hasan\t Shaukat Abidi\tstated in his application as
\nunder:-\n<\/p>\n
     “Respectfully I  beg t state that I
\n     was  born\t at   Allahabad,   Uttar
\n     Pradesh on\t 20th December,\t 1965. I
\n     have passed  B.Sc. and completed my
\n     Master’s in Business Administration
\n     (specialisation in\t Marketing).  In
\n     spite of  my best\tefforts, I  have
\n     not been  able to\tget  a\tsuitable
\n     employment. I  have no other source
\n     of income and am entirely dependent
\n     on my aged parents for survival. My
\n     inability to  find\t employment  and
\n     settle down  is causing  anxiety to
\n     my parents.  Hence,  I  would  most
\n     humbly request you Sir, to grant me
\n     a petrol  pump at\tFatehpur (80 Km.
\n     Mole Stone) in Uttar Pradesh.”
\n     The Minister passed the following order:-
\n     “Office of the Minister of State
\n\t\t (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Shri Syed\tHasan Shaukat  Abidi for
\n     allotment of  a Retail  Outlet  for
\n     MS-HSD. The  applicant  has  stated
\n     that  he  has  completed  his  Post
\n     Graduation\t      in\tBusiness
\n     Administration  and  has  not  been
\n     able   to\t  find\t any\tsuitable
\n     employment. The  applicant has also
\n     stated that  he has no other source
\n     of income\tand is\tdependent on his
\n     parents for sustenance.
\n     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 16\/12<\/span>
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t the   applicant  is   a
\n     professional qualified  man without
\n     any   regular    employment.    The
\n     applicant has  no other  source  of
\n     income and is entirely dependent on
\n     his   parents   for   support   and
\n     sustenance.   The\t case\tdeserves
\n     sympathetic\t  consideration.
\n     Therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSD at Fatehpur (80 Km. Mile Stone)
\n     In Uttar  Pradesh\tis  allotted  to
\n     Shri Syed\tHasan Shaukat  Abidi r\/o
\n     50\/1, Dariyabad,  Allahabad,  Uttar
\n     Pradesh.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\t    Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     It is  obvious from  Mr. Kelkar’s\taffidavit that\tSyed
\nHassan Shaukat Abidi is the son of Justice S.H. Abidi (retd)
\nwho was at that time Chairman of the Oil Selection Board for
\nUttar Pradesh.\n<\/p>\n
     Shiv Balak\t Passi applied\tfor allotment of petrol pump
\nin the following words:-\n<\/p>\n
     “I\t wish  to  state  the  following
\n     about myself.  I am a social worker
\n     who has devoted his entire life for
\n     the  upliftment   of   downtrodden,
\n     underprivileged. I have been in the
\n     forefront\t in    all    activities
\n     involving\teradication   of  social
\n     evils. But\t Sir, I\t am growing  old
\n     and am not in a position to support
\n     myself. Therefore,\t Sir,  with  due
\n     respect I request you to grant me a
\n     petrol    pump    at    Lucknow-Rae
\n     Bareilley Road, Uttar Pradesh.”
\n     The Minister passed the following order:-
\n     “Office of the Minister of State
\n\t\t (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Shri Shiv Balak Passi for allotment
\n     of a  Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The
\n     applicant has  stated that\t he is a
\n     social worker  without any\t regular
\n     source of income.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t    Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t       PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t    21\/12<\/span>
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is  an
\n     educated  unemployed   who\t has  no
\n     regular source of income due to his
\n     serious   preoccupation   for   the
\n     upliftment of downtrodden. The case
\n     deserves sympathetic consideration.
\n     Therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSDA at Rae Bareilley Lucknow Road,
\n     UP, is  allotted to Shri Shiv Balak
\n     Passi,   Ex-MLA,\t District    Rae
\n     Bareilley, Uttar Pradesh.
\n     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t       Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr. Kelkar’s  affidavit shows  that  Shiv\tBalak  Passi
\nhimself is  a member  of the  Oil Selection Board for Madhya
\nPradesh.\n<\/p>\n
     Pradeep Kumar, in his application stated that he was an
\nunemployed young  man from  Scheduled  Caste  category\twith
\nenterprise, initiative\tand determination  and was very keen
\nto make petrol pump dealership as his business. He indicated
\nthat he was appearing in B.A (final). He further stated that
\nhis father has been an active congress worker since 1952 and
\nhas held  many important  positions in\tthe organisation  as
\nwell as\t on the executive side. The following order was made
\nby the Minister:-\n<\/p>\n
     Office of the Minister of State
\n\t\t (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Shri Pradeep Kumar for allotment of
\n     Retail  Outlet   for  MS-HSD.   The
\n     applicant\thas   stated   that   he
\n     belongs  to   a   Scheduled   Caste
\n     Community and  also  an  unemployed
\n     Under Graduate.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     For kind orders.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 20\/6\/94
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully. The applicant is a young
\n     man from  Scheduled Caste Community
\n     with no  source of\t regular income.
\n     The   case\t  deserves   sympathetic
\n     consideration. Therefore,\ta Retail
\n     Outlet  for  MS-HSD  in  the  Union
\n     Territory of  Delhi is  allotted to
\n     Shri  Pradeep   Kumar,  r\/o   18\/7,
\n     Punjabi Bagh Extension, New Delhi –
\n     110 026.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\t Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     While processing  the order,  noting on  the file is as
\nunder:-\n<\/p>\n
     “Reference notes  on pre-page.  MOS
\n     has  sanctioned   a  retail  outlet
\n     dealership\t    at\t    Delhi     on
\n     compassionate   grounds   to   Shri
\n     Pradeep Kumar  who is  belonging to
\n     SC category.  He has  stated in his
\n     application vide  p-1\/c that  he is
\n     appearing in  BA final  year. He is
\n     son of  Shri Krishna Swaroop member
\n     of OSB,  Delhi. The  allowances and
\n     perks of  the Member  of OSB exceed
\n     Rs. 5000\/- per month.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     2.\t However,   in\t view\tof   the
\n     sanction by  MOS, file  is\t put  up
\n     with a  fair  sanction  letter  for
\n     signature, if approved.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t\t 27\/6<\/span><\/p>\n
     Allotment of  a dealership\t to  the
\n     son of  a sitting Member of the OSB
\n     will invite  adverse criticism.  It
\n     will  also\t  create  an   avoidable
\n     impression\t   that\t    govt.     is
\n     influencing the OSB in this manner.
\n\t\t\t   sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t\t 27.6.94″<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr. Kelkar’s affidavit shows that Shri Pradeep Kumar is
\nthe son of Shri Krishan Swaroop, who was at that time member
\nof Oil\tSelection Board\t for Delhi  and Chandigarh.  Pradeep
\nKumar in his application did not mention this fact. The file
\nindicates that\tdespite the  noting to\tthe effect  that the
\nallotment would\t invite\t adverse  criticism,  the  allotment
\norders were issued.\n<\/p>\n
     Mr. Ghulam\t Ahamd Mir  in his application, addressed to
\nthe Minister, stated that due to the escalation of extremist
\nviolence in  Kashmir   Valley in  the recent  years, it\t has
\nbecome difficult  to lead a normal life in the Valley and as
\nsuch earning  a livelihood  has become\tvery  difficult.  He
\nfurther stated that the family was forced to sell some of he
\nancestral property.  He added  that despite being a Graduate
\nhe could  not get  regular employment. He also stated in the
\napplication that he was an active social worker and had been
\npromoting the  nationalist cause  in the Valley due to which
\nhe and his family have been facing constant threats from the
\nmilitants and  extremists in the Valley. The Minister passed
\nthe following order on the applications:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minster
\n     of State for (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Shri Ghulam Ahamd Min for allotment
\n     of a  Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The
\n     applicant has  stated that\t he is a
\n     graduate from  Jummu  and\tKashmir,
\n     who has been forced to migrate from
\n     Kashmir  as   result  of\tmilitant
\n     threats to\t his life. The applicant
\n     has  also\tstate  that  he\t has  no
\n     regular  source   of   income   for
\n     maintaining his family.
\n     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 23\/9<\/span>
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is  an
\n     unemployed graduate  from\tJummu  &
\n     kashmir trying  to settle in Delhi.
\n     The applicant  is an  active social
\n     worker  espousing\tthe  nationalist
\n     cause for\twhich reason  he and his
\n     family  have  become  a  target  of
\n     militants\tin   the   Valley.   The
\n     applicant\thas  not  been\table  to
\n     obtain any\t suitable employment  in
\n     Delhi and\tis finding  it difficult
\n     to support\t his immediate family in
\n     Delhi and his parents in Jammu. The
\n     case      deserves\t     sympathetic
\n     consideration.  Therefore\t an  `A’
\n     site Retail  Outlet for  MS-HSD  in
\n     the Union\tTerritory  of  Delhi  is
\n     allotted to  Shri Ghulam  Ahmad Mir
\n     s\/o Haji  Gh. Hassan  Mir r\/o 71-D,
\n     Pocket `K’,  Sheikh Sarai\tII,  New
\n     Delhi.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\t    Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     While processing the Minister’s order the office put up
\nthe following note on the file:\n<\/p>\n
     “Ref. note above. Sh. G.A, Mir, has
\n     furnished his  bio-data vide  pp 3-
\n     4\/C. In  his bio-data he has stated
\n     that he  working as  Member of  Oil
\n     Selection\tBoard\tand  is\t getting
\n     Rs.250\/- per  sitting of  the Board
\n     as Honorarium.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     2. In view of he above, file is put
\n     up for  orders whether we may issue
\n     sanction to  Oil Company  for award
\n     of RO  dealership, to  Sh. G.A. Mir
\n     as\t per   sanction\t letter\t  placed
\n     below, if approved.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Despite the  above quoted note, the allotment order was
\nissued. Mr, Kelkar in his affidavit has stated that Shri Mir
\nis a  member of\t the  Oil  Selection  Board  for  Delhi\t and
\nChandigarh.\n<\/p>\n
     Mrs. Nena\tNautiyal addressed a three lined application
\nto the Minister. It is stated in the application that she is
\nan educated  lady and  belong to  Scheduled Tribe community.
\nBeing an  unemployed, she  wished to install a retail outlet
\nin the\tUnion Territory,  Delhi.  The  following  order\t was
\npassed by the Minister:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister
\n     of State (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Smt. Nena Nautiyal for allotment of
\n     a retail  Outlet  for  MS-HSD.  The
\n     applicant has  stated  that  is  an
\n     educated\tunemployed   lady   from
\n     Scheduled Tribe community.
\n     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t    Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (G Gurucharan)
\n\t       PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t    19\/8<\/span>
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is  an
\n     educated  lady   and   belongs   to
\n     Scheduled\tTribe\tcommunity.   The
\n     applicant is  unemployed and has no
\n     regular source  of income. The case
\n     deserves sympathetic consideration.
\n     therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSD in the Union Territory of Delhi
\n     is allotted  to Smt.  Nena Nautiyal
\n     r\/o B-399,\t Gali No.19, Bhajanpura,
\n     Delhi.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\t    Minster of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     While processing the Minister’s order the office put up
\nthe following note:\n<\/p>\n
     “Ref. above. Smt. Nena Nautiyal has
\n     furnished her  bio-data vide  pp 8-
\n     7\/C wherein she has stated that her
\n     occupation is  agriculture and  her
\n     and   her\t husband’s   income   is
\n     25,000\/-  &   18,000\/-  per   annum
\n     respectively. In this connection it
\n     is stated\tthat it happens from her
\n     bio-data that  she is  the wife  of
\n     Sh. Ravi  Sharan Nautiyal\twho is a
\n     Member of OSB – Punjab.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     2. In  view of  the above,\t file is
\n     put up  for orders\t whether we  may
\n     issue sanction  to Oil  Company for
\n     setting up a RO dealership in favor
\n     of Smt. Nena Nautiyal”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     The allotment letter dated 7th October, 1994 was issued
\nto Nena\t Nautiyal. It  is admitted  in the  affidavit of  Mr
\nKelkar that  Nena Nautiyal  is the  wife of  R.S.  Nautiyal,
\nMember, Oil Selection Board, Punjab.\n<\/p>\n
     Arun Kumar\t Gupta in  his application  stated  that  he
\npassed BSc.  in Production  Engineering in the year 1970 and
\nworked as  Project Engineer in the Haryana State cooperative
\nSupply and Marketing Federation Ltd. at Chandigarh from 1976
\nto  1989  when\the  was\t forced\t to  tender  resignation  on
\npolitical considerations  when the  Haryana  Government\t was
\nheaded by Shri Devi ll. It is further stated that since then
\nhe was\tunemployed and\tas such the application for grant of
\npetrol pump.  The application was directly dealt with by the
\nMinister and his Private Secretary in the following manner:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister
\n     of State (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Shri Arun K. Gupta for allotment of
\n     Retail Outlet.  The  applicant  has
\n     stated that  he is\t a  professional
\n     who has  not been\table to\t find  a
\n     regular employment\t and is\t finding
\n     it difficult to make ends meet.
\n     Submitted for king orders.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/
\n\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOT (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 22\/X\/93
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is   a
\n     graduate in  Production Engineering
\n     and   is\t without   any\t regular
\n     employment.   The\t case\tdeserves
\n     sympathetic\t  consideration.
\n     Therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSD is  allotted to  Shri\tArun  K.
\n     Gupta, s\/o\t Shri  Harbans\tLal  r\/o
\n     H.No. 68, Sector 8-A, Chandigarh at
\n     Sector-20 C, Chandigarh.
\n     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\t    Minister of State
\n\t\t\t 26\/10<\/span>
\n     While processing the above order, Mr. S.K. Singh, under
\nSecretary in the Ministry wrote on the file as under:\n<\/p>\n
     “A\t retail\t outlet\t dealership  has
\n     been allotted  to Shri  arun  Kumar
\n     Gupta  s\/o\t  Sh.  Harbans\tLal,  at
\n     Chandigarh\t  under\t   discretionary
\n     powers of\tGovt. vide  MOS’ s order
\n     at p-1\/n and Government sanction at
\n     p-2\/c.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     2.\t Since\t the  allottee\thas  not
\n     mentioned anything about his father
\n     and since a similar named person is
\n     working as\t Chairman of  one of the
\n     Oil Selection Boards, IOC was asked
\n     to\t check\t the  detail   from  the
\n     allottee.\tA  report  now\treceived
\n     from IOC  is placed at pp 5-3\/c for
\n     perusal. It  may be  seen therefrom
\n     that the  father  of  the\tallottee
\n     Shri Harbans  Lal is  a Retd. Judge
\n     of\t the  Punjab  and  Haryana  High
\n     Court   and    practising\t  Senior
\n     Advocate in  the Supreme  Court  at
\n     New Delhi,\t and also functioning as
\n     the Chairman  of the  Oil Selection
\n     Board for Haryana.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     3. It is humbly submitted that such
\n     allotments\t will\tinvite\t adverse
\n     public criticism.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (S.K. SINGH)
\n\t\t    US (M.II)\/6.12.93″<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Letter of\tintent was issued to Mr. Arun Kumar Gupta on
\nDecember 9,  1993. Mr.\tKelkar in  his affidavit  has stated
\nthat Arun  kumar Gupta\tis the\tson of\tJustice Harbans\t Lal
\nGupta (retd.),\twho at\tthat time  was Chairman\t of the\t Oil
\nSelection Board, Haryana.\n<\/p>\n
     Satya Bahin,  Ex.Member of Parliament and member of the
\nOil Selection  Board for Haryana recommended the application
\nof Dharmesh  Kumar for\tallotment of  petrol  pump.  It\t was
\nstated in  the recommendation  that Dharmesh  Kumar’s father
\ndied few  years back,  they  are  poor\tand  his  mother  is
\nsuffering from cancer. The Minister allotted the petrol pump
\nby the following order:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister
\n     of State (P&NG)
\n     “Placed below  is an application of
\n     Shri Dharmesh  Kumar for  allotment
\n     of a  Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The
\n     applicant has  stated that he is an
\n     educated youth from Scheduled Tribe
\n     whose father  had passed away while
\n     in\t   Government\t service.    The
\n     Applicant\thas   also  stated   his
\n     mother  who   had\tbeen  trying  to
\n     support   her    family   is   also
\n     afflicted by  Cancer which\t has put
\n     the     family\tin     difficult
\n     circumstances.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS. to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 9.11.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is  an
\n     unemployed\t youth\t whose\tfather’s
\n     sudden demise  had\t prevented  from
\n     completing\t  his\teducation.   The
\n     applicant’s mother who had been the
\n     sole bread-winner for the family is
\n     also afflicted  with  Cancer  which
\n     has put  the family  in  straitened
\n     circumstances.  The  applicant  has
\n     also not  been able obtain suitable
\n     employment.   The\t case\tdeserves
\n     sympathetic\t  consideration.
\n     Therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSD at  Ferozabad-Shikohabad  Road,
\n     near Makhanpur,  Uttar  Pradesh  is
\n     allotted to Shri Dharmesh Kumar s\/o
\n     Late Shri\tJohari\tLal  (Amin)  r\/o
\n     H.No.20, Katra Mohammad Mah, Gandhi
\n     Marg, Shikohabad,\tFirozabad, Uttar
\n     Pradesh.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t    Sd\/- 9\/11
\n\t       Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t       Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     In his affidavit filed before this Court Dharmesh Kumar
\nstated that  he is “neither a family member nor dependent on
\nSatya Bahin.  The deponent  is not  closely related to Satya
\nBahin.”\n<\/p>\n
     Leela Devi\t in her\t application stated that her husband
\nexpired on  25th January, 1994. Two clerks of lawyers killed
\nher husband  in the premises of Patiala House. It is further
\nstated that  she is  a housewife  with no means of income to
\nfeed herself  and her family since the death of her husband.
\nThe Minister  allotted the  petrol  pump  by  the  following
\norder:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister of
\n     State (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Smt. Leela\t Devi for allotment of a
\n     retail  Outlet   for  MS-HSD.   The
\n     applicant\thas   stated  that   her
\n     husband was murdered and ever since
\n     his  death\t  her  family\tis  left
\n     without  any   regular  source   of
\n     livelihood.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t    Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t       PS to MOS(P&NG)
\n\t\t    19\/5\/95
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully. The applicant is a widow
\n     whose  husband  was  murdered.  The
\n     applicant has  no regular income to
\n     support herself and her family. The
\n     case      deserves\t     sympathetic
\n     consideration. Therefore,\ta Retail
\n     Outlet for\t MS-HSD at  NOIDA, UP is
\n     allotted to  Smt.\tLeela  Devi  w\/o
\n     Late Shri Krishan Swaroop r\/o H.No.
\n     B-412\/A, Sector No. 19, NOIDA, UP.
\n     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t       Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     The material on the file shows that the late husband of
\nLeela Devi  was a  dismissed employee  of Post and Telegraph
\nDepartment. He\thad six\t  sons and a house on Kalibari Marg.
\nLate husband  of Leela\tDevi was living away from the family
\nfor 7-8\t years\tprior  to  his\tdeath.\tMr.  Kelkar  in\t his
\naffidavit has  stated that Leela Devi is the relative of the
\ndriver of  the Minister.  The affidavit\t filed by Leela Devi
\nand the\t documents attached  with the  affidavit  read\twith
\nKelkar’s affidavit  clearly show  that\tLeela  Devi  is\t the
\nmother of  Nand Kishor\twho was\t working as  driver of Capt.
\nSatish Sharma.\tMr. Kelkar  in his affidavit has stated that
\n“Smt. Leela  Devi happens  to be a relative of the driver of
\nthe Minister”.\tLeast we  can say  is that Mr. Kelkar should
\nhave known that Leela Devi was Minister’s drivers’s mother.\n<\/p>\n
     Poda Rajasekhar has, in his application, stated that he
\ncompleted his B.Com in 1980 and in spite of his best efforts
\nhe could  not settle  in regular  employment. His father was
\nserving as  an Inspector  of Customs  and Central Excise. He
\nexpired in  January 1981.  His mother,\twho was\t a  teacher,
\nretired on 19.4.1993. He finds it difficult to cope with the
\npresent circumstances. The Minister allotted the petrol pump
\nby the following order:\n<\/p>\n
     “OFFICE OF THE MINISTER
\n     OF STATE (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is the application of
\n     Shri Poda\tRajasekhar r\/o 8-3-897\/6
\n     Nagarjuna Nagar,  Hyderabad (A.P.).
\n     The applicant has stated that he is
\n     an educated  unemployed person  who
\n     has the  responsibility of\t looking
\n     after  his\t mother\t as  well  as  a
\n     cousin, who  is mentally  retarded.
\n     He has stated that besides his best
\n     efforts, he  has not  been able  to
\n     settle in\tany regular  employment.
\n     He has  prayed that a retail outlet
\n     dealership\t for   MS-HSD\tmay   be
\n     allotted to  him at  Banjara Hills,
\n     Secunderabad (A.P.).\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     For kin orders.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (G. GURUCHARAN)
\n\t       PS TO MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t    23.7.93
\n     Minister
\n     I have   examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully. The  applicant’s case is
\n     genuine  in  view\tof  the\t adverse
\n     financial\tcircumstances  that  the
\n     family finds itself in. It is a fit
\n     case for sympathetic consideration.
\n     Accordingly   a\tretail\t  outlet
\n     dealership for  MS-HSD is\tallotted
\n     to Shri  Poda Rajasekhar at Banjara
\n     Hills, Secunderabad (A.P.).
\n     Orders may be issued immediately.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (CAPT. SATISH SHARMA)
\n\t\t    MOS\t (P&NG)”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr kelkar\tin  his\t affidavit  has\t stated\t that  “Poda
\nRajasekhar  is\t a  relative  of  Shri\tGurucharan,  Private
\nSecretary to the Minister”.\n<\/p>\n
     Madhuri safaya  has stated\t in her application that she
\nis a  native of\t Kashmir. She  is a  young lady and has been
\nrendered homeless  due to  the increasing  militancy in\t the
\nValley. Due  to sudden\tmigration to  Delhi she has not been
\nable  to  complete  her\t education.  On\t these\tgrounds\t she
\nrequested the  Minister to  allot her  a  petrol  pump.\t The
\nMinister readily obliged her by the following order:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister
\n     of State (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Ms. Madhuri Safaya for allotment of
\n     Retail  Outlet   for  MS-HSD.   The
\n     applicant\thas   stated  that   she
\n     belongs to\t Kashmir and  her family
\n     has  migrated   to\t  Kashmir.   The
\n     applicant has  also stated that she
\n     has not been able to get a suitable
\n     job and is without a regular source
\n     of livelihood.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 12.10
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully. The applicant is a young
\n     lady whose family has migrated from
\n     Kashmir and  are dependent on their
\n     relatives\t for   sustenance.   The
\n     applicant\thas  not  been\table  to
\n     obtain a  suitable job  for herself
\n     and is  without any  regular source
\n     of\t income.   The\t case\tdeserves
\n     sympathetic\t  consideration.
\n     Therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSD   in\tthe   national\t Capital
\n     Territory of  Delhi is  allotted to
\n     Ms.  Madhuri  Safaya    r\/o  B-6\/1,
\n     Vasant Vihar, New Delhi.
\n     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\t    Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr kelkar\thas confirmed  in his affidavit that Madhuri
\nSafaya is related to B.N. Safaya, Add1. Private Secretary to
\nthe Minister.\n<\/p>\n
     Monika Malla  in her application stated that her family
\nwas forced to leave Kashmir  due to the militant activities.
\nHer family  had to dispose of the property at a loss and all
\nthe   savings had already been spent. She has to support her
\nparents who  are not  keeping good  health. On these grounds
\nshe requested the Minister for the allotment of petrol pump.
\nThe Minister passed the following order:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister
\n     of State (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Ms. Monica Malla for allotment of a
\n     Retail  Outlet   for  MS-HSD.   The
\n     applicant has  stated that\t she  is
\n     young  lady   form\t Kashmir   whose
\n     family has\t been forced  to migrate
\n     to Delhi  due to growing militancy.
\n     The applicant  has also stated that
\n     she has  exhausted\t their\tfamily’s
\n     savings   and    are   finding   it
\n     difficult to  sustain themselves in
\n     Delhi.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Submitted for kind orders.
\n\t\t    Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t       PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t    12.10
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully. The applicant is a young
\n     lady whose\t family had  migrated to
\n     Delhi owing  to militant activities
\n     of the  extremists. The applicant’s
\n     family has\t no source of livelihood
\n     and she has not been able to obtain
\n     any suitable  employment. The  case
\n     deserves sympathetic consideration.
\n     Therefore, a  Retail Outlet for MS-
\n     HSD   in\tthe   National\t Capital
\n     Territory of  Delhi is  allotted to
\n     Ms. Monica\t Malla c\/o  Smt.  Labroo
\n     r\/o  D-1\/54,   Vasant  Vihar,   New
\n     Delhi.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\t    Minister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr. Kelkar\t has stated  in his  affidavit\tthat  Monika
\nMalla is  related to  the wife\tof B.N.Safaya, Add1. Private
\nSecretary to the Minister.\n<\/p>\n
     Daya Rani\tstated in  her application  that  she  is  a
\nhousewife of  a low  paid employee  having four school going
\nchildren. It was difficult to live with the meagre salary of
\nher husband.  She wanted  to share the responsibility of her
\nhusband and  as such  requested the  Minister to allot her a
\npetrol\tpump.  The  minister  obliged  her  by\tpassing\t the
\nfollowing order:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister
\n     of State (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is an  application of
\n     Smt. Daya\tRani w\/o Shri H.R. Verma
\n     for allotment  of a  Retail  Outlet
\n     for  MS-HSD.   The\t Applicant   has
\n     stated that  she has  a  family  of
\n     four school  going children  and is
\n     finding it\t difficult to  make ends
\n     meet with\tthe income  being earned
\n     by her husband.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Submitted for king orders.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 10.10.94
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is   a
\n     housewife whose  family  is  facing
\n     difficult financial  circumstances.
\n     The   case\t  deserves   sympathetic
\n     consideration. Therefore,\ta Retail
\n     Outlet in\tthe Union  Territory  of
\n     Delhi is allotted to Smt. Daya Rani
\n     w\/o Shri  H.R.  Ramakrishna  Ashram
\n     Marg, Gole Market, New Delhi.
\n     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t\tMinister of State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Shri S.K.\tSingh, Under Secretary, while processing the
\nMinister’s order noted on the file as under:\n<\/p>\n
     “Smt. Daya\t Rani, the  allottee  is
\n     the wife of Shri Hari Ram Verma who
\n     is working\t in this  Ministry as an
\n     Assistant and  presently posted  to
\n     Minister’s\t  Office.   His\t  annual
\n     income  from   pay\t and  allowances
\n     during  1993-94   is  reported  Rs.
\n     52,925\/-. However, the allottee has
\n     shown   the    annual   income   as
\n     Rs.36,000\/- which\tis factually not
\n     correct.  It  seems  that\tshe  has
\n     shown only\t the take-home pay after
\n     deductions. It is for consideration
\n     whether the  sanction letter placed
\n     below as per Orders of MOS recorded
\n     at p-1\/n may be issued
\n\t\t\t      Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t\t (S.K. SINGH)
\n\t\t    US (M.II)\/25.10.94″<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Allotment\torder  was  issued  to\tDaya  Rani  on\t31st
\nOctober, 1994.\tMr. Kelkar  has stated in his affidavit that
\nDaya Rani  is the  wife of H.R. Verma, Personal Assistant to
\nthe Add1. Private Secretary (B.N. Safaya) to the Minister.\n<\/p>\n
     Vijaya Nair has stated in her application that she is a
\nyoung housewife\t with a\t large family  to support.  She\t has
\nstudied up  to B.A.  level. The meagre income of her husband
\ncould not  sustain  their  liabilities.\t She  requested\t the
\nMinister to  allot her\ta petrol  pump which was done by the
\nfollowing order:\n<\/p>\n
     “Office of the Minister
\n     of State (P&NG)
\n     Placed below  is the application of
\n     Smt. Vijaya  Nair. The applicant is
\n     a young  educated unemployed person
\n     with the  responsibility of looking
\n     after a  family which  has a meagre
\n     income. The  applicant  has  stated
\n     that despite  best efforts\t she has
\n     been unable to obtain suitable job.
\n     She has,  therefore requested  that
\n     as\t a   special  case  she\t may  be
\n     allotted a\t Retail Outlet MS-HSD in
\n     the Union Territory of Delhi.
\n     For kind orders.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t\t    (G. Gurucharan)
\n\t\t    PS to MOS (P&NG)
\n\t\t\t 23.7.93
\n     Minister
\n     I\thave  examined\tthe  application
\n     carefully.\t The   applicant  is  an
\n     educated unemployed housewife whose
\n     family  circumstance   is\tone   of
\n     considerable financial  difficulty.
\n     The applicant  has also prayed that
\n     she has  the  necessary  drive  and
\n     initiative to  run a Retail Outlet.
\n     This is a fit case to be considered
\n     sympathetically.\tAccordingly,   a
\n     Retail   Outlet   for   MS-HSD   is
\n     allotted to Smt. Vijaya Nair, 2213,
\n     Lodi Road\tComplex,  New  Delhi-110
\n     003,  in  the  Union  Territory  of
\n     Delhi as  a special case.
\n     Orders may be issued accordingly.
\n\t\t\t Sd\/-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\t       (Capt. Satish Sharma)
\n\t       Minister of  State”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Mr. Kelkar has stated in his affidavit that Vijaya Nair
\nis related  to\tD.V.  Pillai,  Add1.  Private  Secretary  to
\nMinister.\n<\/p>\n
     All the  15 allotments  – discussed  above –  have been
\nmade  by   the\tMinister   in  a   stereotyped\tmanner.\t The
\napplications  have  not\t been  officially  received  by\t the
\nPetroleum Ministry.  There is  no receipt  – entry on any of
\nthe applications. The applicants seem to have approached the
\nMinister directly.  None of the applications have been dealt
\nwith in\t any of\t the branches  of  the\tMinistry.  There  is
\nnothing on the record to indicate that the Minister kept any
\ncriteria in  view  while  making  the  allotments.  How\t the
\napplicants came to know about the availability of the petrol
\npumps is  not known. No advertisement was made to invite the
\napplications. There  is nothing\t on the\t record to show that
\nany other method of inviting applications was adopted. There
\nis no  indication in the allotment-orders or anywhere in the
\nrecord to show that the Minister kept any guidelines in view
\nwhile making these allotments. The allotments have been made
\nin a cloistered manner. The petrol pumps – public property –
\nhave been doled out in a wholly arbitrary manner. This Court
\nin Ramana Dayaram Shetty vs. International Airport Authority
\nof India and others<\/a> (1979) 3 SCC 489, held ad under:\n<\/p>\n
     “It must, therefore, be taken to be
\n     the law  that where  the Government
\n     is dealing with the public, whether
\n     by way  of gibing\tjobs or entering
\n     into contracts or issuing quotas or
\n     licences or granting other forms of
\n     largesse, the Government cannot act
\n     arbitrarily at  its sweet will and,
\n     like  a  private  individual,  deal
\n     with any person it pleases, but its
\n     action must  be in\t conformity with
\n     standard  or  norms  which\t is  not
\n     arbitrary,\t     irrational\t      or
\n     irrelevant. The power or discretion
\n     of the  Government in the matter of
\n     grant of  largesse including  award
\n     of\t  jobs,\t   contracts,\t quotas,
\n     licences, etc. must be confined and
\n     structured\t by  national,\trelevant
\n     and non-discriminatory  standard or
\n     norm and  if the Government departs
\n     from such\tstandard or  norm in any
\n     particular\t case\tor  cases,   the
\n     action of\tthe Government\twould be
\n     liable to be struck down.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     The allotments have been made by the Minister either on
\nthe ground  of poverty\tor unemployment.  Assuming that\t the
\nallottees belong  to either of these two categories then how
\nthe Minister has selected them court of millions of poor and
\nunemployed in  this country.  As mentioned above no criteria
\nwas fixed,  no guidelines  were kept  in view, none knew how
\nmany  petrol   pumps  were\tavailable   for\t  allotment,
\napplications were  not invited\tand the allotments of petrol
\npumps were made in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner.\n<\/p>\n
     We may  examine these   allotments\t from another  angle
\nwhich has  very serious repercussions. Six of the  allottees
\nare related  to various officials working with the Minister.
\nLeela  Devi   is  the  mother  of  Minister’s  driver.\tPoda
\nRajasekhar is a relation of G. Gurucharan, Private Secretary
\nto the Minister. Madhuri Safaya and Monika Malla are related
\nto B.N.\t Safaya, Add1.\tPrivate Secretary  to the  Minister.
\nDaya Rani  is the  wife of H.R. Verma. Personal Assistant to
\nB.N. Safaya  and Vijaya\t Nair is  the wife  of D.V.  Pallai,
\nAdd1. Private Secretary. Two of the allottees are related to
\nthe politicians.  Sarbjot Singh is the son of Buta Singh who
\nwas Home  Minister and\tat the\trelevant  time\twas  Cabinet
\nMinister heading  the Civil  Supplies portfolio. Benjamin K.
\nHollohan is  the son  of Shri  K. Hollahan,  Minister in the
\nState of  Nagaland. Remaining  seven  allottees\t are  either
\nmembers of  the Oil  Selection Boards  or  their  relations.
\nShaukat Hasan Abidi is the son of Justice S.H. Abidi(Retd.),
\nwho was\t the Chairman  of the  Oil  Selection  Board,  Uttar
\nPradesh. Similarly,  Arun Kumar\t Gupta is the son of Justice
\nHarbans Lal  Gupta (Retd.)  who\t was  the  Chairman  of\t Oil
\nSelection Board,  Haryana.  Pradeep  Kumar  is\tthe  son  of
\nKrishna Swaroop,  who was  Member of Oil Selection Board for
\ndelhi and  Chandigarh. Nena  Nautiyal is  the wife  of\tR.S.
\nNautiyal, who\twas  member of\tOil Selection Board, Punjab.
\nDharmesh Kumar was the recommended of Satya Bahin, Ex.Member
\nof Parliament  and Member  of the  Oil Selection  board\t for
\nHaryana.  Shiv\t Balak\tPassi  and  Ghulam  Ahamd  Mir\twere
\nthemselves members  of\tthe  Oil  Selection  Boards.  It  is
\nobvious that  Capt. Satish  Sharma was personally interested
\nin making  allotments of petrol pumps in favour of all these
\n15 persons. He made allotments in favour of relations of his
\npersonal staff\tunder the  influence of\t the staff on wholly
\nextraneous considerations.  The allotments  to the  sons  of
\nMinisters were\tonly to oblige the Ministers. The allotments
\nto  the\t  members  of\tthe   Oil   Selection\tBoards\t and
\ntheir\/chairmen’s relations  have been done to influence them
\nand to\thave favours  from them.  All these  allotments\t are
\nwholly arbitrary, nepotistic and are motivated by extraneous
\nconsiderations.\n<\/p>\n
     The Government  today –  in a  welfare State – provides
\nlarge number  of benefits  to the  citizens. It\t distributes
\nwealth in  the form  of allotment  of plots,  houses, petrol
\npumps, gas  agencies, mineral  leases, contracts, quotas and
\nlicences etc.  Government distributes  largesses in  various
\nforms.\tA   Minister  who  is  the  executive  head  of\t the
\ndepartment  concerned\tdistributed   these   benefits\t and
\nlargesses. He  is elected by the people and is elevated to a
\nposition where\the holds a trust on behalf of the people. He
\nhas to\tdeal with  the peoples’\t property in a fair and just
\nmanner. He  cannot commit breach of the trust reposed in him
\nby the\tpeople. We have no hesitation in holding  that Capt.
\nSatish Sharma  in his  capacity as  a Minister for Petroleum
\nand Natural gas Deliberately acted in a wholly arbitrary and
\nunjust manner.\tWe have\t no doubt  in our  mind\t that  Capt.
\nSatish Sharma  knew that the allottees were relations of his
\npersonal  staff,   sons\t of   Ministers,  sons\/relations  of
\nChairmen and  members of  the Oil  Selection Boards  and the
\nmembers\t of   the  Oil\t Selection  Boards  themselves.\t The
\nallotments made\t by him\t were wholly  mala fide\t and as such
\ncannot be sustained.\n<\/p>\n
     We are  further of\t the view  that Capt.  Satish Sharma
\nacted in  a wholly  biased manner  inasmuch as\the  unfairly
\nregarded with  favour the  cases of 15 allottees before him.
\nThe  relevant\tcircumstances  available   from\t record\t and
\ndiscussed by  us leave\tno manner  of doubt in our mind that
\nCapt. Satish Sharma deliberately acted in a biased manner to
\nfavour these  allottees and as such the allotment orders are
\nwholly vitiated and are liable to be set aside.\n<\/p>\n
     The orders\t of the Minister reproduced above read: “the
\napplicant has  no regular  income to support herself and her
\nfamily”, “the  applicant is  an educated lady and belongs to
\nscheduled tribe\t community, “the applicant is unemployed and
\nhas no\tregular source\tof income”,  “the  applicant  is  an
\nuneducated, unemployed scheduled tribe youth without regular
\nsource of  livelihood”, “the  applicant\t is  an\t uneducated,
\nunemployed scheduled  tribe youth  without regular source of
\nlivelihood”, “the  applicant is\t a housewife whose family is
\nfacing difficult  financial circumstances”  etc. etc.  There
\nwould be  literally millions of people in the country having
\nthese circumstances  or worse.\tThere  is  no  justification
\nwhatsoever to  pick up\tthese person except that they happen
\nto have\t won  the  favour  of  the  Minister  on  mala\tfide
\nconsiderations.\t None\tof  these   cases  fall\t within\t the
\ncategories placed  before this Court in writ petition (civil
\nNo. 886\/93  titled Centre  for public  interest ligation vs.
\nUnion of India & Anrs. decided on March 31, 1995 but even if
\nwe assume for argument sake that these cases fall in some of
\nthose or  similar guidelines  the exercise of discretion was
\nwholly\tarbitrary.  Such  a  discretionary  power  which  is
\ncapable of  being exercised  arbitrarily is not permitted by
\nArticle 14  of the  Constitution of  India. While Article 14
\npermits a  reasonable classification having a rational nexus
\nto the\tobjective sought  to be achieved, it does not permit
\nthe power  to pick  and choose\tarbitrarily out\t of  several
\npersons falling\t in  the  same\tcategory.  A  transport\t and
\nobjective criteria\/procedure  has to  be evolved so that the
\nchoice among  the members  belonging to\t the same  class  or
\ncategory  is   based  on   reason,   fair   play   and\t non
\narbitrariness. It  is essential\t to lay\t down as a matter of
\npolicy as  to how  preferences would be assigned between two
\nperson falling\tin the\tsame  category.\t If  there  are\t two
\neminent sportsmen  in distress\tand only  one patrol pump is
\navailable, there  should be clear, transparent and objective
\ncriteria\/procedure to  indicate who  out of the two is to be
\npreferred. Lack\t of  transparency  in  the  system  promotes
\nneptosism and arbitrariness. It is absolutely essential that
\nthe entire  systems should  be transparent  right  from\t the
\nstage of  calling for  the upto\t the stage  of\tpassing\t the
\norders of  allotment. The names of the allottees, the orders
\nand the reasons for allotment should be available for public
\nknowledge and  scrutiny. Mr.  Shanti Bhushan  has  suggested
\nthat the  petrol pumps,\t agencies etc.\tmay be\tallotted  by
\npublic auction\t– category-wise\t amongst  the  eligible\t and
\nobjectively selected  applicants. We  do not  wish to impose
\nany procedure  on the  Government. It  is a matter of policy
\nfor the Government to lay down. We, however, direct that any
\nprocedure laid\tdown by\t the Government must be transparent,
\njust, fair and non-arbitrary,
\n     This Court in The Centre for Public Interest Litigation
\ncase (supra)  has endorsed  the guidelines  submitted by the
\nAttorney General for allotment of petrol pumps, gas agencies
\netc. The  Court in  that case  did not\thave before  it\t the
\nactual manner  of exercise  of discretion by the Minister in
\nthe allotment  of pups\/agencies.  The allotment orders which
\nare now\t before the  Court clearly indicate that leaving the
\nauthorities to\tenjoy absolute\tdiscretion even\t within\t the
\nguidelines would  inevitably lead  to gross violation of the
\nconstitutional norms  when the\tpersons\t for  allotment\t are
\npicked up arbitrarily and discriminatory.\n<\/p>\n
     This Court\t as back  as in 1979 in Ramana Shetty’s case
\n(supra) held  “it  must,  therefore,  be  taken\t to  be\t the
\nlaw….” that  even in\tthe matter  of\tgrant  of  largesses
\nincluding award of jobs, contracts, quotas and licences, the
\nGovernment  must  act  in  fair\t and  just  manner  and\t any
\narbitrary distribution\tof wealth would violative the law of
\nthe land.  Mr. Satish Sharma has acted in utter violation of
\nthe law\t laid-down by  this Court  and\thas  also  infarcted
\nArticle 14 of the Constitution of India. As already stated a
\nminister in  the Central  Government is\t in a  position of a
\ntrustee in  respect of\tthe public property under his charge
\nand discretion.\t The petrol pumps\/gas agencies are a kind of
\nwealth which  the Government  must distribute in a bona fide
\nmanner and  in conformity  with law. Capt. Satish Sharma has
\nbetrayed the  trust reposed  in him  by the people under the
\nconstitution. It  is high  time\t that  the  public  servants
\nshould be  held personally  responsible for  their mala fide
\nacts in the discharge of their functions as public servants.
\nThis Court  in Lucknow\tDevelopment  Authority\tversus\tM.K.
\nGupta  (1994)\t1  Supreme   Court   Cases   243,   approved
\n“Misfeasance in\t public offices”  as a\tpart of\t the Law  of
\nTort.  Public\tservants  may\tbe  liable  in\tdamages\t for
\nmalicious, deliberate or injurious wrong-doing. According to
\nWade “There is, thus, tort which has been called misfeasance
\nin public  office and  which  includes\tmalicious  abuse  of
\npower, deliberate  maladministration, and perhaps also other
\nunlawful acts  causing injury”.\t With the  change in  socio-
\neconomic outlook,  the public  servants are  being entrusted
\nwith more  and more discretionary power even in the field of
\ndistribution of\t Government wealth in various forms. We take
\nit to  be perfectly  clear, that  if a public servant abuses
\nhis office  either by  an act of omission or commission, and
\nthe consequence\t of that  is injury to an individual or loss
\nof public property, an action may be maintained against such
\npublic servant. No public servant can say “you may set-aside
\nan order  on the  ground of mala fide but you cannot hold me
\npersonally  liable”.  No  public  servant  can\tarrogate  to
\nhimself the power to act in a manner which is arbitrary.\n<\/p>\n
     For the  reasons indicated\t above, we conclude that the
\norders passed  by Capt.\t Satish Sharma, the then Minister of
\nState for  Petroleum and  Natural Gas,\tGovernment of India,
\nallotting  petrol   pumps  to  Sarbjot\tSingh,\tBenjamin  K.
\nHollohon,  Syed\t Hasan\tShaukat\t Abidi,\t Shiv  Balak  Passi,
\nPradeep Kumar,\tGhulam Ahmad  Mir, Nena Nautiyal, Arun Kumar
\nGupta, Dharmesh\t Kumar, Leela Devi, Poda Rajasekhar, Madhuri
\nSafaya,\t Monika\t  Malla,  Daya\tRani  and  Vijaya  Nair\t are
\narbitrary, discriminatory,  mala fide, wholly illegal and as
\nsuch are liable to be quashed.\n<\/p>\n
     We, therefore, hold and direct as under:\n<\/p>\n
1.   The  orders  –  reproduced\t in  earlier  part  of\tthis
\njudgment –  allotting petrol  pumps to\tthe above  mentioned
\nfifteen persons are hereby quashed.\n<\/p>\n
2.   The allocation,  allotment of  the petrol\tpumps\/retail
\noutlet dealerships  by the  Government of  India, Indian Oil
\nCorporation Ltd.  or any  other corporation  in names of the
\nabove  said  fifteen  persons  shall  stand  cancelled\twith
\nimmediate effect.\n<\/p>\n
3.   Most of  these 15\tpersons have not as yet commissioned
\nthe petrol  pumps. Those  who have  commissioned the  petrol
\npumps and  are running\tthe same  shall stop  operating\t the
\npetrol pumps  and running the said business with effect from
\nOctober 31,  1996. The\tGovernment of  India\/Oil Corporation
\n(concerned) shall  take over  the petrol  pump premises from
\nthese  persons\t within\t ten   days  thereafter.   The\t Oil
\nCorporation shall  have the market-value of the site and the
\nconstruction thereon,  determined in  a fair and just manner
\nbefore October 31, 1996.\n<\/p>\n
4.   Each of  the commissioned\tpetrol pumps,  taken over by
\nthe Government\/Oil  Corporation (concerned) and the built-up
\narea along with the site (whether lease-hold or owned by the
\noriginal allottee)  shall be  disposed of  by way  of public
\nauction. The  original allottees may also participate in the
\nauction. The  petrol pump  shall be  allotted to the highest
\nbidder. The  said allottee  shall run the petrol pump on the
\noriginal terms\tand conditions. He shall have all the rights
\nin respect  of the  site and the construction thereon as the
\noriginal allottee  had on  the date  of auction.  Out of the
\nauction money  the value of the site and the construction as
\ndetermined by  the Oil\tCorporation shall  be  paid  to\t the
\noriginal allottee  and the  remaining money  shall go to the
\nGovernment  coffer.  On\t receipt  of  the  said\t amount\t the
\noriginal allottee  shall cease to have any right or interest
\nin the\tsite and the construction thereon. If the successful
\nbidder is the original allottee, he shall pay the difference
\nbetween the  auction money  and the  value of  the site\t and
\nconstruction as determined by the Oil Corporation.\n<\/p>\n
5.   Capt. Satish  Sharma shall\t show-cause within two weeks
\nwhy a  direction be  not issued\t to the\t appropriate  police
\nauthority  to  register\t a  case  and  initiate\t prosecution
\nagainst him  for criminal  breach  of  trust  or  any  other
\noffence under  law. He\tshall further  show-cause within the
\nsaid period  why he  should not, in addition, be made liable
\nto pay\tdamages for his mala fide action in allotting petrol
\npumps to the above mentioned fifteen persons.\n<\/p>\n
     We place  on  record  our\tappreciation  for  Mr.\tH.D.
\nShourie, who,  very ably,  assisted us\tin this\t matter.  He
\nshall be  entitled to  costs which  was quantify  as  rupees
\nfifty thousand.\t The cost  shall be  paid  by  Capt.  Satish
\nSharma personally.\n<\/p>\n
     Before parting with this judgment, we may mention about
\nCivil Writ  Petitions Numbers  400.\/95 and 4430\/95 which are
\npending before\tthe Delhi High Court. In the said petitions,
\nallotment of  petrol pumps\/gas\tagencies  to  various  other
\npersons during\tthe period  1992-93,  1993-94,\t1994-95\t and
\n1995-96 have  been challenged.\tTransfer petition  No.127\/96
\nhas been  filed in this Court seeking transfer of those writ
\npetitions from\tDelhi High  Court to  this  Court.  We\thave
\nissued notice  in the  transfer\t petition  and\thave  stayed
\nfurther proceedings  before  the  High\tCourt  in  the\twrit
\npetitions. Various  affidavits have  been filed on behalf of
\nthe Ministry  of Petroleum  & Natural  Gas. Mr.\t Devi Dayal,
\nJoint Secretary\t of the\t Ministry, in  his  affidavit  dated
\nMarch  26,  1995,  has\tstated\tthat  in  1995-96  petroleum
\nproducts agencies  were allotted  to 99\t persons  under\t the
\ndiscretionary powers of the Government. It is further stated
\nthat  orders   on  file\t have  been  made  allotting  petrol
\npumps\/agencies to 61 more persons. An affidavit filed by Mr.
\nSrinivasan, Advocate  supporting the transfer petition gives
\na long\tlist of\t persons who  are related  to the then Prime
\nMinister\/Ministers and other VIPs and who have been allotted
\npetrol\tpumps  and  gas\t agencies.  Mr.\t Devi  Dayal,  Joint
\nSecretary in  the Ministry  of Petroleum  has filed  another
\naffidavit dated\t April 18, 1996 in reply to the affidavit of
\nMr. Srinivasan. Para 6 of the affidavit is as under:-\n<\/p>\n
     “As regards  the list  of allottees
\n     mentioned in  paras 3  to 6 and the
\n     alleged relationship with the Prime
\n     Minister, other Ministers, V.I.Ps.,
\n     M.Ps\/M.L.As, etc.,\t it is to submit
\n     that  enquiries   have  been   made
\n     through the  Oil Companies from the
\n     allottees, who have replied through
\n     affidavits.  The  comments\t of  the
\n     Ministry, on  the\tbasis  of  above
\n     enquiry and  records, are contained
\n     in Annexure – I to this affidavit.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
     Annexure 1\t with the  affidavit shows that gas agencies
\nwere allotted  to six  relations of the then Prime Minister,
\nan agency  to a\t son of\t the OSD in Prime Minister’s office,
\nLPG dealership\tto daughter-in-law  of the  OSD tot  eh then
\nMinister of  Petroleum, a petrol pump to the real brother of
\nChadraswamy  (Nemi   Chand  Jain),  LPG\t distributorship  to
\nbrother of  Shri Bhagwan Shri Satya Sai Baba, LPG dealership
\nto Manju  Devi, wife  of  private  secretary  to  additional
\nprivate secretary  of Capt.  Satish Sharma, a petrol pump to
\nwife  of   V.K.\t Aggarwal,   additional\t private  secretary,
\nMinistry of Law, RO dealership to Rakesh Saluja, son of R.L.
\nSaluja, who  was employed  in the Ministry of Petroleum till
\nJune, 1993,  RO dealership to Prathiba Singh related to Shri
\nKalapnath Rai,\tRO dealership in January, 1995 to Kanti\t Lal
\nBhuriya, who at that time was Minister for Tribal Welfare in
\nhe Madhya Pradesh Government, a gas agency to the son-in-law
\nof Mr.\tG. Ganga  Reddy, Member\t of Parliament\tand  various
\nothers.\n<\/p>\n
     Since the\ttwo writ  petitions,  mentioned\t above,\t are
\npending before the High Court wherein the allotments made to
\nall the\t persons  mentioned  above  and\t others,  have\tbeen
\nchallenged, it\tis not necessary for us to transfer the writ
\npetitions to this Court. We vacate the stay order granted by
\nthis Court  and dispose\t of the transfer petition. We direct
\nthe Registry  of this Court to send all the affidavits filed
\nby the parties in the transfer petition along with annexures
\nto the\tHigh Court.  We have  no doubt\tthat the  High Court
\nshall examine  the issues  involved in he writ petitions and
\nshall also  go into  the validity of the allotment of petrol
\npumps\/gas agencies  to various\tpersons, after hearing them,
\nin accordance  with  law.  We  request\tthe  High  Court  to
\nexpedite the hearing of the petitions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Supreme Court of India Common Causea Registered Society vs Union Of India & Others on 25 September, 1996 Author: K Singh Bench: Kuldip Singh, Faizan Uddin PETITIONER: COMMON CAUSEA REGISTERED SOCIETY Vs. RESPONDENT: UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS DATE OF JUDGMENT: 25\/09\/1996 BENCH: KULDIP SINGH, FAIZAN UDDIN ACT: HEADNOTE: JUDGMENT: J U D G M […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"\nCommon Causea Registered Society vs Union Of India & Others on 25 September, 1996 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/common-causea-registered-society-vs-union-of-india-others-on-25-september-1996\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common Causea Registered Society vs Union Of India & Others on 25 September, 1996 - 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