K. GOWTHAMAN Vs. THE SENIOR AREA MANAGER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has come up with the above Writ Petition seeking to quash the impugned orders dated 13.09.2016 and 20.10.2016 passed by the respondent and for a consequential direction to the respondent to issue a Letter of Intent by appointing him as LPG Distributor for the location in Sl. No. 240 at Mudalipalayam, Tiruppur District under Open Category as per his selection made in the drawal of lot held on 03.08.2016.

(2.) According to the petitioner, pursuant to the Advertisement jointly issued by the respondent/IOC and two other Oil Companies, viz. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) in the Dailies, viz. The Hindu and Daily Thanthi on 21.09.2013, inviting applications from interested persons for appointment of dealers in 296 locations, he submitted his application dated 22.10.2013 for LPG Distributorship at Mudalipalayam (Sl. No. 240) under 'Open Category' and the same was duly received by the respondent as per the communication dated 10.11.2013. However, the selection process was stalled in view of the litigation's backed by the existing dealers. Finally, this Court dismissed the Writ Petitions, whereupon, the aggrieved parties filed S.L.P. No. 4634 of 2015, etc. and the Apex Court, by an order dated 09.05.2016, held as under:

(3.) Pursuant to the above order, the respondent fixed a date for drawal of lot on 03.08.2016. All the eligible applicants were informed about the date of drawal of lot by way of communication dated 22.07.2016. Accordingly, the petitioner participated along with 49 other applicants in the drawal of lot held on 03.08.2016, in which, he was declared as selected as per the proceedings of the draw for selection of LPG Distributorship issued by the respondents. After his selection on 03.08.2016, the petitioner was asked to deposit a sum of Rs. 50,000/-, to enable the respondent verify the Field Verification Credentials (FVC). Accordingly, the petitioner deposited the said sum on 04.08.2016. Before conducting the field verification, the respondent instructed the petitioner to prove his financial capacity as per Clause 6.1 (vi) of the Brochure on Guidelines for selection. Accordingly, the petitioner proved his financial capacity by producing his Bank Pass Book showing that he had Rs. 15 lakhs in his Account.