LAWS(APH)-1992-4-1

PRAGATHI NAGAR WELFARE ASSNO Vs. M C H

Decided On April 30, 1992
PRAGATHI NAGAR WELFARE ASSOCIATION. Appellant
V/S
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF HYDERABAD Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The above two writ petitions are inter-connected. The sole petitioner in W.P. No. 3865/91 who is the proprietor of M/s.Vamsi Enterprises and who is impleaded as the second respondent in W.P.No.18260/88 (hereinafter referred to as "the petitioner") has taken on lease a part of plot No.61 in a locality called Pragathi Nagar Colony and applied for shifting of his business as a wholesale dealer in kerosene from a locality called Venkatagiri. He applied for licence and permission to the Commissioner of Police, Controller of Explosives, Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and other authorities. The Controller of Explosives, Government of India, Nagpur and the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad granted permission. All the required formalities have been complied with by the petitioner. At that stage, the Pragathi Nagar Colony Welfare Association (for short "the Welfare Association) represented by its President and three other residents of Pragathi Nagar Colony filed W.P. No.18260/88 seeking a writ of Mandamus prohibiting the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad from issuing licence and directing the petitioner and his wife not to instal any kerosene tank for the purpose of storing kerosene in plot No.61, Pragathi Nagar Colony. The Welfare Association obtained interim orders dated 7-12-1988. The petitioner filed a petition to vacate the stay and by an order dated 30-12-1988 Ramaswamy, J., (as he then was) vacated the interim stay with an observation that the licences obtained for starting the business will be subject to the result of the writ petition. Challenging that order, the Welfare Association preferred W.A.No.15 of 1989 which is still pending. The Division Bench while admitting the writ appeal directed status quo to be maintained. While so, the Deputy Commissioner of Policy, West Zone, Hyderabad issued a show-cause notice dated 14-3-1989 to the petitioner asking him to show cause as to why the no objection certificate issued in his favour should not be cancelled. The petitioner offered his explanation dated 23-3-1989. Thereafter, the no objection certificated dated 29-9-1988 issued in favour of the petitioner was cancelled on 27-4-1989. Challenging that order, the petitioner preferred a statutory appeal under Rule 155 of the Petroleum Rules (for short "the Rules") to the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The hearing took plaice on 21-1-1991 and the appeal was dismissed on 25-2-1991. The petitioner filed W.P. No.3865 of 1991 for issue of a writ of Certiorari quashing the proceedings of the Government contained in Memo. No.59243/CS-II/89 dated.25-2-1991 confirming the proceedings of the Commissioner of Police dated 27-4-1989.

(2.) The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that when the petitioner applied for permission to the Commissioner of Police, the concerned Assistant Commissioner of Police made an inspection and submitted a report to the Deputy Commissioner of Police on 30th July, 1988 basing on which, a no objection certificate was issued in his favour; that the Chief Controller of Explosives, Nagpur also gave permission; that the allegation in the show-cause notice that the petitioner has suppressed facts is erroneous and that the ground on which the no-objection certificate is cancelled viz., that the petitioner has not filed the no-objection certificates from the neighbours is mis-conceived. The further compliant of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that when the petitioner has preferred an appeal to the Government, the Government gave new reasons for confirming the order of the Commissioner of Police, which is illegal.

(3.) The contention of the learned counsel for the Welfare Association (first petitioner in W.P. No. 18260 of 1988) is that the wife of the petitioner having purchased plot No.61 in Pragathi Nagar Colony has applied for approval for sanction of lay-outto the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad; that subsequently alleging that she has leased out half extent of her plot to the petitioner under an oral lease; that the petitioner has applied for permission stating that he has to shift his business as wholesale dealer in kerosene to a part of plot No.61 belonging to his wife; that the lay-out was sanctioned only for the purpose of residential area; that one of the conditions for allotment of a plot in Pragathi Nagar Colony is to construct a residential building in the plot allotted and that the petitioner cannot be allowed to construct a huge tank for storing kerosene which is contrary to the permission granted by the Municipal Corporation in the lay-out plan. He further submitted that the petitioner, by not disclosing the public roads or the high-tension wires situated within a distance of 100 metres from plot No.61 and enclosing a no-objection certificate from his wife has played fraud upon the Commissioner of Police in obtaining a no objection certificate. Because of the fraud played by the petitioner and the suppression of facts, the learned counsel argued, the no-objection certificate was cancelled by the Commissioner of Police. The learned counsel for the Welfare Association argued that the appeal preferred to the Government was also duly considered and dismissed and as such, the petitioner has no right to store kerosene in a part of plot No.61 which is a highly inflammable liquid. 29-9-1988 issued in favour of the petitioner was cancelled on 27-4-1989. Challenging that order, the petitioner preferred a statutory appeal under Rule 155 of the Petroleum Rules (for short "the Rules") to the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The hearing took place on 21-1-1991 and the appeal was dismissed on 25-2-1991. The petitioner filed W.P.No.3865 of 1991 for issue of a writ of Certiorari quashing the proceedings of the Government contained in Memo.No.59243/CS-II/89 dated.25-2-1991confirming the proceedings of the Commissioner of Police dated 27-4-1989.