- (1.) The controversy involved in this proceeding arises out of a selection process initiated by a notice published by the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., (HPCL) inviting applications for appointment of dealers in respect of various retail outlets for petroleum products in different parts of this State. The dispute in this proceeding relates to a location disclosed against serial No. 21 in the list of sites disclosed in the advertisement. The location is described as "Bhojerhat between KM stone 15-17 on SH3" in the district of 24 parganas (south). The requirements which individual applicants were required to fulfill were disclosed in the said notice itself in a form of notes. In this proceeding, the subject of controversy revolves around Clause VII of these notes relating to location requirement. This clause stipulates:- "vii In case the land offered is on National Highway, the same should meet the NHAI guidelines contained in Govt. of India, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways No.RW/NH-33023/1999-DOIIIdt. 25.09.03/17.10.03 and further amendments if any, failing which the offered land will not be considered for evaluation as above and the candidate will be treated at par with those candidates who have not offered land. The offered site should also meet IRC 12/2009 and norms of statutory bodies like forest, explosive etc. and land should be convertible for commercial and petrol pump use."
(2.) The respondent No. 8 had been selected for this retail outlet and notice of appointment has been given to him. The writ petitioner alleges that selection of respondent No. 8 was improper in that there was no compliance of the provisions of IRC 12/2009 pertaining to the site offered by the respondent No. 8. IRC12/2009 is the title given to guidelines for access, location and layout of a roadside fuel stations and service stations formulated by the Indian Roads Congress in the year 2009. No specific violation of individual norms contained in the IRC 12/2009 has been pointed out in the writ petition. In course of hearing, however, learned counsel for the petitioners sought to make out a case that there was violation of Clause 4.5.1 of this Code which stipulates:- "4.5 In order to provide safe length for weaving of traffic, fuel stations along highways/roads shall be located at the minimum distance from an intersection (gap in the central median be treated as intersection), as given below. For single carriageway section, these minimum distances would be applicable for both sides. All the distances shall be measured between the tangent points of the curves of the side roads at intersections/the median openings and the access/egress roads of the fuel stations, as is applicable, in a direction parallel to the centre line of the nearest carriageway of the highway. The above mentioned distances are applicable for setting up of fuel stations along National Highways, State Highways and Major District Roads. In case of fuel stations along the Rural Roads in plain and rolling terrain, the distance from the intersections with NHs/SHs/MDRs can be reduced to 300 m in place of 1000 m depending on the level of traffic. 4.5.1 Non-urban (Rural) stretches 1) Plain and Rolling Terrain (i) Intersection with NHs/SHs/MDRs/City Roads 1000 m (ii) Intersection with Rural Roads/approach road to Private and public properties 300 m 2) Hilly/Mountainous Terrain (i) Intersection with NHs/SHs/MDRs 300 m (ii) Intersection with all other roads and tracks 100 m"
(3.) Prior to filing of the writ petition, query was raised by the petitioner with the special Public Information Officer ADM(G) office of the District Magistrate, south 24 parganas under the provisions of section 6 of the Right to Information Act 2005 seeking information on various counts pertaining to selection in respect of the retail outlet at the said location. Two of these queries could be connected to the stipulations of Clause 4.5, which are:- "4.Who is the authority for carrying out measurement of the distance from aforesaid site on Basanti Highway (State Highway III) to Bhojerhat intersection and whether such measurement been carried out by the said authority? Kindly provide certified copies of documents. 5.Whether IRC : 12-2009 being Guidelines for Access, Location and Layout of Roadside Fuel Stations and Service Stations (3rd Revision) framed by the Indian Roads Congress, been considered?";