Rajasthan High Court: In a petition challenging the issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) granted by the authorities for establishing a petrol pump retail outlet, a single-judge bench of Sudesh Bansal, J., admitted the case for further deliberation and made the interim stay on the establishment of the fuel station during the course of the writ petition, absolute.
The petitioner contended that the authorities approved the site for the retail outlet without considering its proximity to a cremation ground (Shamshan) located just 25 meters away. Additionally, an 11,000 KV high-tension power line passes through the area at a distance of 18 meters from the site. It was contended that the approval also did not comply with the guidelines issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), particularly the sitting criteria mentioned in Clause 6(H) of the NGT judgment dated 22-07-2019. The petitioner argued that the location approval violated prescribed site norms and environmental regulations.
The Court, after hearing both parties and perusing the documents, including reports from the Tehsildar and the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), found that the NOCs were issued without due consideration of critical safety and environmental factors. The Court observed that the approval violated the siting norms prescribed in Clause 6(H) of the NGT’s judgment dated 22.07.2019.
The Court stated that the matter requires further consideration by this Court and admitted the writ petition for further hearing. The Court made the stay order issued on 06-10-2021, absolute. The Court, however, permitted the respondents permitted to lift the motor spirit, if it has already been supplied and stored in underground tanks. The Court granted liberty to respondent, HPCL, to invite respondent 5 to establish the retail outlet at an alternative location pursuant to the Letter of Intent (LOI) issued to him.
[Deepak Acharya v. Hindustan Petroleum Corpn. Ltd., S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 11365/2021, Decided on 05-03-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Mr. Sunil Samdaria and Mr. Arihant Samdaria, Counsel for the Petitioner
Mr. R.K. Mathur, Sr. Adv. assisted by Mr. J.P. Gupta, Mr. Sanjay Kumar Singhal, Mr. Neeraj Batra, Ms. Nidhi Khandelwal and Ms. Anshu Kanwar, Counsel for the Respondent