Jaipur: The issue of alleged restrictions on the sale of petrol and diesel has reached the Rajasthan High Court, with the Petroleum Dealers Distributors Transporters Welfare Association challenging what it termed as arbitrary actions by public sector oil companies.
A civil writ petition filed by the association came up for hearing before the bench of Justice Mukesh Rajpurohit at the Jodhpur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court.
The court has fixed May 25 for the next hearing in the matter.
The petition challenges the actions of Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.
According to the association, officials of the oil companies have been instructing petrol pump operators through verbal directions and WhatsApp messages to limit the sale of petrol and diesel.
The petition further alleges that dealers were warned of punitive action, including suspension of fuel supply and sales, if sales exceeded the prescribed limits.
Senior advocate Rajesh Joshi and advocate Himanshu Ranjan Singh Bhati, appearing for the association, argued that petroleum products fall under the category of “essential commodities” under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
The petition states that only the Central or state governments are legally empowered to regulate or restrict the production, distribution, or sale of such commodities through formal statutory notifications.
According to the association, no such notification has been issued at present, making the restrictions imposed by oil companies “illegal and beyond jurisdiction”.
The High Court was informed that a copy of the petition had already been served upon the Union government.
The court directed advocate Bharat Vyas to appear on behalf of the Centre and also instructed counsels representing the oil companies to obtain copies of the petition.
The registry was further directed to reflect advocates Sameer Shrimali and Nishant Boda as counsel for the respondents in the cause list.
Parallel to the legal proceedings, association president Rajendra Singh Bhati submitted a memorandum to Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sumit Godara demanding a video conference meeting within three days.
In its memorandum, the association also accused the Department of Weights and Measures of adopting “oppressive” practices against petrol pump dealers.
It alleged that dealers are being penalised for minor technical discrepancies in dispensing machines and denied proper opportunities to present their case.
The memorandum specifically referred to action taken on May 4 against M/s Vinayak Indian Oil in Amer tehsil, alleging procedural irregularities and unilateral imposition of heavy penalties on a woman dealer without a hearing.
The association further claimed that a similar incident occurred in Jodhpur, where a dealer was publicly portrayed negatively despite the pump having been verified by the department just three days earlier.
The association argued that petrol pump dealers merely operate machines whose verification and calibration are carried out by the department itself.
It stated that no dispensing machine can function with “zero per cent error”, yet dealers are being held liable for minor discrepancies of 25–27 millilitres.
Criticising the system, the memorandum said dealers were not even being given the right to appeal or pay penalties “under protest”, alleging that officials were acting as “both investigating officers and judges”.
(IANS)
