Holding

A minister’s discretionary power to allot public property must be exercised in a transparent, non‑arbitrary manner with rational criteria; the arbitrary allotments made by Capt. Satish Sharma violated Article 14 and were therefore illegal and set aside.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined the discretionary allotment of fifteen petrol pumps by the then Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Capt. Satish Sharma, who granted them to relatives of politicians, Oil Selection Board members and ministry officials without any advertisement, guidelines or transparent criteria. The petition, filed by Common Cause and H.D. Shourie, alleged that the allotments were arbitrary, discriminatory and malafide, violating Article 14 of the Constitution. The Court held that a minister’s discretion in allocating public property must be exercised with rational, non‑arbitrary standards and that the present allotments breached the equality clause. Consequently, the orders were quashed, the allotments cancelled, the pumps taken over by the government and disposed of by public auction, and the minister was directed to show cause for criminal prosecution and damages. The writ petition was disposed of in favour of the petitioner.

Issues considered

The legality of the minister's discretionary allotment of petrol pumps without guidelines under Article 14.
Whether the arbitrary and nepotistic allotments constitute a breach of trust and attract criminal liability.
Whether the minister can be held personally liable for damages for malafide actions.
Whether the court can order cancellation, takeover and public auction of the allotted petrol pumps.
The maintainability of the writ petition under Article 32.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 14, s. Article 298, s. Article 32

Subjects

discretionary powerArticle 14arbitrarinessnepotismpetrol pump allotmentpublic propertymisfeasance in public officecriminal breach of trustpublic interest litigationtransparencygovernment largesse

Judgment

COMMON CAUSE, A REGISTERED SOCIETY A
v.
UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS

SEPTEMBER 25, 1996

[KULDIP SINGH AND FAIZAN UDDIN, JJ.] B

Constitution of India-A1ticles 14, 32 and 298-Ministei~A/lotment of
retail outlets for petroleum products (Petrol Pumps) under discretionary
quota-All the allotments made in favour of persons related to
politicians/members of Oil Selection Boards/Officials in the Minisll)~Allot c
ments made in a cloistered and stereotyped manner without any guidelines or
critelia-Held, arbitra1y, disC1iminat01y, malafide and illegal-Exercise of dis-
cretion must be transparent, just, fair and non-arbitrwy in accordance with
set no11113~ clitelia or guideline3~Minister holds position of a tntstee of public
prope1ty in his charge and discretion-Arbitra1y allotments of such property D
amount to breach of llust-Hence, liable to be set aside-Directions issued.

Constitution of lndia-A1ticle 14-Allotments of petrol pumps by a
Minister under his discretiona1y quota in an arbitrary mannel'--No guidelines
fol/owed-Held, A1ticle 14 pennits a reasonable classification having a ration-
al nexus to the object sought to be achieved-It does not pennit to pick and E
choose arbitralily out of several persons failing in the categ01y.

Public Servant-Discharge of ftmctions-Malafide acts-Personal
liability of-Held, is in a position of a tmstce in respect of public prope1ty
under his charge and discretion-Must distlibute ill a bonafide manner and
in con[ormity with law-Should be held personally responsible for his F
malafide acts in the discharge of his ftmctions as Public Se1vant for he betrays
the tntst reposed in him by the people under the Constitution.

The then Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, while
exercising the powers of the Central Government made the allotments of G
retail outlets for petroleum products (petrol pumps) to fifteen persons
under the discretionary quota.

Two of the allottees were the sons of politicians and seven of the
allottees were related to the members of Oil Selection Boards (OSBs) or
the members themselves and remaining six allottees were the relatives of H
719
720 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A the officials in the Petroleum Ministry. All the fifteen allottees mentioned
in their applications for the allotment th.e reasons for compassionate
grounds for allotment, such as unemployment, poverty etc. among other
grounds. There was no advertisement issued to invite the applications. The
applications were not received officially by the Ministry. There was no
receipt entry on any of the applications. Nobody had the knowledge of
B number of petrol pumps available for allotment. l'!o criteria was fixed, no
guidelines were kept in view. The applicants seemed to have approached
the Minister directly.

The petitioner had originally challenged the corruption in various
C fields of public life in a public interest petition. During its pendency, when
the petitioner brought to the notice of the court a news item appeared in
a national daily regarding the allotments of retail outlets for petroleum
products (petrol pumps) by the Minister of State for Petroleum and
Natural Gas, exercising the powers of Central Government, the Court took
D cognisance of it and a notice was issued on the petition.

Disposing of the writ petition, this Court

HELD : 1.1. The orders allotting the petrol pumps to fifteen persons
are quashed. Allocation and allotment of petrol pumps/retail outlets
E dealerships by the Government of India, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. or
any other Corporation in their names shall stand cancelled with immediate
effect .. · Those who have commissioned the petrol pumps and are running ·
the same shall stop operating the petrol pumps and running the said
business. The Government of India/Oil Corporation (concerned) shall take
F over the petrol pump premises from these persons. The Oil Corporation
shall have the market value of the site and the construction thereon,
determined in a fair and just manner. Each of the commissioned petrol
pumps so taken over shall be disposed of by way of public auction. The
original allottee may also participate in the auction. The petrol pump shall
G be allotted to the highest bidder. Out of the auction money the value of the
site and the construction as determined by the Oil Corporation shall be
paid to the original allottee ·and the remaining money shall go to the
Government coffer. Prosecution proceedings shall be initiated against the
Minister for criminal breach of trust or any other offence under law and
also he shall be made liable to pay damages for his malafide action in
H allotting petrol pumps to the fifteen persons. (754-C-H, 755-A-C]
COMMON CAUSE v.. U.0.1. 721

1.2 The allotments have been made by the Minister either on the A
ground of poverty or unemployment. Assuming that the allottees belong to
either of these two categories then how the Minister has selected them out
of millions of poor and unemployed in this country. All the 15 allotments
have been made by the Minister in a stereotyped manner. The applications
have not been officially received by the Petroleum Ministry. There is no B
receipt-entry on any of the applications. The applicants. seem to have
approached the Minister directly. None of the applications have been dealt
with in any of the branches of the Ministry. There is nothing on the record
to indicate that the Minister kept any criteria in view while making the
allotments. How the applicants came to know about the availability of the
petrol pumps is not known. No advertisement was made to invite the C
applications. There is nothing:on the record to show that any other method
of inviting applications was adopted. There is no indication in the allot-
ment orders or anywhere in the record to show that the Minister kept any
guidelines in view while making these allotments. None knew how many
petrol pumps were available for allotment. The allotments have been made D
in a cloistered manner. The petrol pumps public property have been doled
out in a wholly arbitrary and discriminatory manner. [750-D]

1.3. It is obvious that the Minister was personally interested in
making allotments of petrol pumps in favour of all these 15 persons. He
made allotments in favour of relations of his personal staff under the E
influence of the staff on wholly extraneous considerations. The allotments
to the sons of Ministers were only to oblige the Ministers. The allotments
to the members of the Oil Selection Boards and their/Chairman's relations
have been done to influence them and to have favours from them. All these
allotments are wholly arbitrary, nepotistic and are motivated by ex- p
traneous considerations. [751-B-C]

2.1. Capt. Satish Sharma acted in a wholly biased manner in as much
as he unfairly regarded with favour the cases of 15 allottees before him.
There is no justification whatsoever to pick up these persons except that
they happen to have won the favour of the Minister on malafide considera- G
tions. The exercise of discretion was wholly arbitrary. Such a discretionary
power which is capable of being exercised arbitrarily is not permitted by
Article 14 of the Constitution of India. While Article 14 permits a
reasonable classification having a rational nexus to the objective sought
to be achieved, it does not permit the power to pick and choose arbitrarily H
722 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A out of several persons falling in the same category. A transparent and
objective criteria/procedure has to be evolved so that the choice among the
members _belonging to the same class or category is based on reason, fair
play and non-arbitrariness. It is essential to lay down as a matter of policy
as to how preferences would be assigned between two persons falling in the
same category. Lack of transparency in the system promotes nepotism and
B
arbitrariness. It is absolutely essential that the entire system should be
transparent right from the stage of calling for the applications upto the
stage of passing the orders of allotment. The names of the allottees, the
orders and the reasons for allotment should be available for public
knowledge and scrutiny. [751-G, 752-D-G]
c
2.2. The Minister has acted in utter violation of the law laid down b)
this court and has also infracted Article 14 of the Constitution of India. A
Minister in the Central Government is in a position of a trustee in respect
of the public property under his charge and discretion. The Petrol
pumps/gas are a kind of wealth which the Government must distribute in
D a bonafide manner and in conformity with law. The Minister has betrayed
the trust reposed-in him by the people under the Constitution. It is high
time that the public servants should be held personally responsible for
their malafide acts in the discharge of their functions as public servants.
The Minister shall show-cause within two weeks why he should not be made
E liable to pay damages for his malafide action in allotting petrol pumps to
the fifteen persons. [753-D-E]

3.1. The allocation/allotment of the petrol pumps/retail outlet dealer-
ships by the Government of India, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., in the
names of fifteen persons shall stand cancelled with immediate effect. The
F Government of India/Oil Corporation shall take over within ten days the
petrol pump premises from those persons who have not commissioned
them. As far those commissioned the petrol pumps, they shall stop operat-
ing them. Each of the commissioned petrol pumps, taken over by the
Governurnt/Oil Corporation shall be disposed of byway of public auction.
[754-G]
G
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (C) No. 26 of
1995.

(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.)

H H.D. Shourie, In-person for the Petitioner.
COMMON CAUSE v. U.O.I. [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 723

Kapil Sibal for the petitioner in W.P. No. 26/95. A

Prashant Bhushan for Jayant Bhushan for the Petitioner in T.P. (C)
No. 127/96.

Altaf Ahmed, Additional Solicitor General, P.P. Malhotra, H.L.
Agrawal, K.N. Bhatt, A.B. Rohtagi, S.C. Maheshwari, B.K. Prasad, Navin B
Prakash, Krishan Mahajan, T.V. Ratnam, D.S. Mehra, Anil Katiyar, K.K.
Gupta, Sanjeev Bansal, Pramod Dayal, A.K. Mahajan, Ms. Sandhya Gos-
wami, Ms. H.Wahi, Ms. N. Mukherjee, T. Sridharan, Tufail A. Khan, Rajiv
Nanda, A.K. Goel, Mrs. Sheela Goel, K. Swamy, (Piyush), Ved Prakash,
Goodwill Indeevar and Rajesh K. Sharma, for (Pradeep Kumar and Gulam C
Ahmed Mia), D.M. Nargolkar, D.K. Sinha, K.R. Nagaraja, S.K. Agnihotri,
S.A. Syed, G.K. Bansal, Ms. Kirti Misra, N.K. Sharma, S. Kulshreshthra,
Pramod Dayal, S.K. Bisaria, J.M. Khanna and S.M. Ashri for the Respon-
dents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by D

KULDIP SINGH, J. The allotments of retail outlets for petroleum
products (the petrol pumps), by Capt. Satish Sharma, Minister of State for
Petroleum & Natural Gas, exercising the powers of the Central Govern-
ment, have been challenged in this public interest petition under Article 32 E
of the Constitution of India. The petition as originally filed was directed
against corruption in various fields of public life. Mr. H.D. Shourie -
Director "Coinmon Cause" - appearing in person, invited this Court's
attention to a news item dated August 11, 1995, on the front page of "Indian
Express" under the caption ''In Satish Sharma's Reign, Petrol and
Patronage Flow Together". The solicitor general who was present in Court, F
took notice of the news item and stated that he would have the matter
examined in the Ministry concerned and file an affidavit giving Ministry's
response to the news item. The news item, inter alia, stated as under :

"Not only the relatives of most of the officials working for Captain G
Satish Sharma but even his own driver and the driver of his
additional Private Secretary have been allotted a petrol pump and
a gas agency respectively.

The wives of two clerks and a stenographer in the Ministry have
similarly been allotted petrol pumps. Some of these allotments H
724 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A . have been made from the discretionary quota with the Petroleum
Minister while others have been made through a1l ostensibly ob-
jective selection process undertal,(en by the Oil Selection Boards
(OSBs) .......... A Mr. Poda Rajshekar, a relative of Mr. G.
Gurusharan, :Private Secretary to Captain Sharma has been allotted
a petrol pump at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad out of the Minister's
.B
discretionary quota taking pity on the "financictl circumstances that
the family finds itself in."

Ms. Madhuri Safaya, a relation of the Additional Private
Secretary to the Minister, Mr. V.N. Safaya has been allotted a
c petrol pump "on compassionate grounds" from the discretionary
quota.

Another relation of Mr. Safaya, Mrs. Monica Malla, has als\l
been a beneficiary of a petrol pump, courtesy Captain Sharina.

D Mrs. Daya Rani, wife of Mr. Hari Ram Verma, personal
assistant to the Additional PS to the Minister, Mr. V.N. Safaya,
· was allotted a petrol pump out of the discretionary quota..........
Mrs. Vijaya Nair, wife of Mr. D.V. Pillai, another additional Private
secretary to Captain Sharma has been allotted a petrol pump on
the grounds that the "applicant is a young unemployed (woman)
E
.with the responsibility of looking after a large family" - hardly a
unique classification m this country of 900 million. ......... The
Chairman of the OSB for Uttar Pradesh is Justice S.H. Abidi
(retd.) who lives at 50, Dariyabad, Allahabad. It so happens that
Syed Shaukat Hasan Abid~ his son, living at 50/1, Daryabad,
F Allahabad put ma request and was allotted a petrol pump on
"compassionate grounds" at Fatehpur (80 km Mile Stone) mUttar
Pradesh.

A former MLA, Mr. Shiv Balak Passi, from Rae Bareli is a
member of the OSB for Madhya Pradesh and his job is to allot
G petrol pumps to others. He too had put in a request for the
discretionary allotment of a petrol pump. Lo and behold, on
·"compassionate grounds" he was immediately allotted a petrol
pump o~ the Rae Bareli-Lucknow Road in UP.

H Mr. Krishna Swaroop, a Congress party worker and resident ·
COMMON CAUSE v. U.O.I. [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 725

of 1817, Punjabi Bagh Extension, New Delhi-26 is a member of A
the OSB for Delhi and Chandigarh. His son, Mr. Pradeep Kuinar,
was favoured with a petrol pump by the Minister on the grounds
that "the applicant is a young man from· Scheduled Caste Com-
munity with no source of regular income. The case deserves sym-
pathetic consideration. Therefore, a retail Outlet for MS-HSD in
B
the Union Territory of Delhi is allotted to Shri Pradeep Kumar,
r/o 18/7, Punjabi Bagh Extension, New Delhi-110026."

Mr. Ghulam Ahmed Mir is also a member of the OSB for Delhi
and Chandigarh. An application was made by him for the allotment
of a petrol pump. And the Minister passed the order on "compas- C
sionate grounds" from his discretionary quota.

Similarly the following OSB members, either themselves or
their next of kin:, have been allotted petrol pumps : Mr. K.L.
Sharma (Member OSB, West Bengal), Mr. R.S. Nautiyal (Member
OSB, Punjab), and Mr. Harbanslal Gupta (member OSB, D
Haryana). Two relations of Mrs. Satya Bahen (Member OSB,
Haryana) were allotted a gas agency in Etah and a petrol pump
at Itmadpur near Tundla, respectively.

The son of a former Home Minister who is currently a Cabinet E
Minister; the son of a present Minister of State from the North
East; the brother-in-law of a former Janata Dal office-bearer and
now a Congressman from Eastern UP; the son of a Dalit leader
who was with the late H.N. Bahuguna at one time and is now in
the Congress; the son of a former Congress Councillor of the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi; the wife of an ex-Congress MP F
·from the UP. hills; the wife of a prominent Dalit leader in the
Opposition and several political hacks from Ainethi are among the
hundreds who have been gifted petrol pumps or gas agencies
during the tenure of Captain Satish Sharma as the Petroleum
Minister." G
Mr. Vijay L. Kelkar, Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural
Gas, Government of India, filed affidavit dated October 9, 1995. The
relevant part of the affidavit is as under : -

"It may be relevant to point out here that under the approved H
726 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A Guidelines, the Hon'ble Minister personally decides each case and
the order is a speaking order. An unsuccessful applicant in the
same category is entitled to have a copy of the order if a request
is made for it.

The specific instances referred to in the Indian Express
B newspaper dated 11th August, 1995, appear to relate to allotments
made prior to the order of this Hon'ble Court dated 31st March,
1995. However, those allotments also were made on merits of each
case as appearing from the applications which contained the cir-
cumstances under which the request was made. For the cases
c mentioned in the newspaper report, it is denied that the allotments
were made on account of alleged- relationship and/or any improper
motive. The relationship of an applicant with any official of the
Ministry has not been a relevant- factor in considering discretionary
allotment on compassionate grounds. Should this Hon'ble Court
direct, the relevant files shall be produced for persual for this
D Hon'ble Court."

This Court examined the affidavit of Mr. Kelkar on October 13, 1995 and
_passed the following order :

E "Mr. Vijay L. Kelkar, Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas, Government of India has filed an affidavit pursuant
to this Court's order dated August 11, 1995. Without commenting
on the affidavit, we direct the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural
Gas to file a further and better affidavit within two weeks with
F reference to the specific instance~."

Pursuant to the above quoted order Mr. Kelkar filed affidavit dated
October 28, 1995. The relevant part of the affidavit is as under :

"That the Deponent, in compliance with the said order dated 13th
G October, 1995, has ascertained the position regarding the allega-
tions that allottees under the discretionary quota are related to
various political leaders, officials and members of Oil Selection
Boards {OSBs) or the members themselves. Such allottees can be
grouped under three different categories and allegation regarding
H each one of them is answered and/or dealt with as follows :
COMMON CAUSE v. U .O.I. [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 727

A ALLOTIEES SAID TO BE RELATED TO POLITICIANS. A
(i) With reference to the allegation that the son of a former Home
Minister, who is currently a Cabinet Minister, has been allotted a
Petrol Pump, .............. It is correct that the allottee, Shri Sarbjot
Singh is the son of the said Shri Buta Singh.
B
(ii) with reference to the allegation that the son of a present
Minister of State from North-East, has been allotted a petrol
pump. ......... It is correct that the said allottee is the son of a
Minister namely, Shri K. Hollahan, in the State Government of
Nagaland.
c
B. ALLOTIEES SAID TO BE RELATED TO THE MEMBERS
OF OSBs OR THE MEMBERS THEMSELVES.

(i) With reference to the allegation that Shri Syed Shaukat Hasan
Abidi is the son of Justice S.H. Abidi (retd.), who is the Chairman . D
of the OSB for U ttar Pradesh....................... Discretionary allotment
was made in favour of the applicant in January, 1995. It is correct
that the said allottee is the son of the said Chairman of OSB for
U.P.

(ii) With reference to the allegation that Shri Shiv Balak Passi is E
a member of the OSB for Madhya Pradesh and he is himself an
allottee from discretionary quota, .......... A discretionary allotment
was sanc:tioned in his favour in December, 1994. It is correct that
Shri Passi is a Member of the OSB for Madhya Pradesh.

(iii) With reference to the allegation that the allottee, Shri Pradeep F
Kumar, is the son of Shri Krishna Swaroop who is a Member of
OSB for Delhi and Chandigarh, ............... It is correct that the
allottee is the son of the said Shri Krishna Swaroop.

(iv) With reference to the allegation that the allottee, Shri Ghulam G
Ahmad Mir is a Member of OSB for Delhi and Chandigarh, .......... .
It is correct that Shri Mir is a Member of the OSB, Delhi.

(v) With reference to the allegation that Shri R.S. Nautiyal, who
is a Member of OSB, Punjab, has been allotted a Petrol Pump
either in his own name or in the name of his next of kin, it is stated H
7'2J!, SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A that Smt. Neena Nautiyal, made an application in August, 1994.
....... It is correct that Smt. Neena Nautiyal is the wife of Shri R.S.
Nautiyal, a Member of OSB, Punjab.

(vi) With reference to the allegation that a Petrol Pump was
allotted to Shri Justice Harbanslal Gupta, a Member of OSB,
B
Haryana, in his own name or in the name of his next of kin, it is
stated that one Shri Arun K. Gupta made an application in Sep-
tember, 1993, ....... It is correct that Shri Arnn Kumar Gupta is the
son of Shri Justice Harbanslal Gupta (Retd.) who is the Chairman
of the OSB, Haryana.
c
(vii) With reference to the allegation that two relations of Smt.
Satya Bahin, a Member of the OSB for Haryana, were allotted a
Gas Agency and a Petrol Pump, it is stated that one Shri Dharmesh
Kumar made an application in September, 1994, ..... Along with
D his application there was a recommendation for discretionary
allotment from Smt. Satya Bahin, Ex Member of Parliament... .... It
is stated that the relationship of Shri Dharmesh Kumar with Smt.
Satya Bahin is not known.

E C. ALLOTTEES WHO ARE SAID TO BE RELATED TO
VARIOUS OFFICIALS IN THE MINISTRY.

(i) The allegation is that relatives of the Drivers of the Minister
and of the Additional Private Secretary to the Minister have been
allotted Petrol Pump and Gas Agency. It has been found that one
F Smt. Leela Devi,· \vife of late Shri Kishan Swaroop made an
application that her husband was brutally murdered on 25.1.1994,
she had no means of income to support her family and that she
belonged to a Scheduled Caste. A retail outlet was allotted to Smt.
Leela Devi on compassionate grounds from the discretionary quota
G in May, 1995. It has now been ascertained that Smt. Leela Devi
happens to be a relative of a ·Driver of the Minister.

(ii) With reference to the allegation that Shri Poda Rajasekhar is
a relative of Shri G. Gurucharan, Private Secretary to the Minister
H of State, it is stated that an app~cation was made by Shri Rajasek-
COMMON CAUSE v. U.O.I. [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 729

har in July, 1993, ..... A retail Outlet Dealership for MS-HSD at A
Secunderabad was sanctioned to Shri Rajasekhar on compas-
sionate grounds. It has been ascert:fined that the said allottee is a
relative of the said Shri Gurucharan.

(iii) With reference to the allegation that Ms. Madhuri Safaya is a
relative of Shri B.N. Safaya, Additional Private Secretary to the B
Minister, to whom a Retail Outlet has been allotted, ......... It has
been ascertained that she is related to the said Shri B.N. Safaya.

(iv) With reference to the allegation that Ms. Monica Malla is also
related to Shri B.N. Safaya, ....... A Retail Outlet was allotted to C
her in November, 1994 out of discretionary quota. It has been
ascertained that the said Ms. Malla is related to the wife of Shri
B.N. Safaya.

(v) With reference to the allegation that the allottee, Mrs. Daya
Rani, is the wife of Shri H.R. Verma, Personal Assistant to the D
Additional Private Secretary to the Minister, Shri B.N. Safaya, .....
It is correct that the allottee is the wife of Shri H.R. Verma.

(vi) With reference to the allegation that Mrs. Vijaya Nair, who
has been sanctioned a Retail Outlet, is that the wife of Shri D.V.
· Pillai, Additional Private ~ ecretary to the Minister of State,........ It E
has been ascertained that Mrs. Vijaya Nair is not the wife of Shri
D.V. Pillai, but she is related to him".

This Court issued notice to all the 15 persons mentioned in the affidavit of
Mr. Kelkar. Thirteen, out of them filed affidavits justifying the allotments
of petrol pumps made to them by Capt. Satish Sharma.
F

This Court by the order dated December 6, 1995 directed that "the minister
may, if he so desires, file an affidavit in this regard". Capt. Satish Sharma
has, however, not chosen to file any affidavit.
G
The relevant records have been produced before us.

Mr. Sarbjot Singh in his application mentioned that he was a com-
merce graduate belonging to the scheduled caste community. He com-
pleted graduation in the year 1991. He was iiiterested in sports (shooting)
and won awards at the national level. Because of his pre-occupation with H
730 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A the sports, he had average academic record and as a, consequence could
not get admission to any professicnal courses. He further stated that in
spite of his best efforts he could not get any suitable employment for
supporting himself and as such a petrol pump in Delhi be allotted to him.
The file does not indicate how the application was entertained. There is
B no receipt/entry on the application. No official/officer has examined the
application before the Minister's order. There is nothing to show that any
guide-lines were kept in view. The application, obviously, was given by hand
to the Minister, who readily passed the allotment order. There is a separate
sheet containing the order of the Minister which is as under :

c "Office of the Minister of State
(P&NG)

**********

Placed below is an application of Shri Sarbjot Singh for allot-
D . ment of a retail Outlet dealership for MS-HSD. The applicant has
stated that he is a graduate without any suitable employment.

Submitted for kind orders.

Sd/-
E (G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG)
31/1

Minister
F I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is an
unemployed graduate and a sportsman who participated in nation-
al level competitions. The applicant has not been able to get any
gainful employment and is unable to support himself. The case
deserves sympathetic consideration. Therefore, a Retail Outlet for
G MS-HSD in the National Capital Territory of Delhi is allotted to
Shri Sarbjot Singh r/o 16, Ashok Road, New Delhi.

Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/-
H (Capt. Satish Sharma)
COMMON CAUSE v. U.0.1. [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 731

Minister of State" A

Thereafter, the matter was processed in the office and in one of the notes
by an officer of the Ministry it was mentioned that the allottee " is son of
Shri Buta Singh, Minister of Civil Supplies". No one took notice of this fact
and the allotment order was issued.
B
In all the cases discussed hereinafter the pattern of allotment and the
method and procedure followed was the same as in Sarbjot Singh's case.

Benjamin K. Hollohon stated in his application that he was an
educated unemployed youth and also active party worker in the area. He
belonged to scheduled tribe from Nagaland State. He requested in the
c
application for allotment of petrol pump in Purana Bazar area of Dimapur
town, Nagaland. The application was sent to Captain Satish Sharma by Mr.
K. Hollohon, Minister, Industry and Commerce, Nagaland (Father of the
applicant) along with a d.o. letter which reads as under :
D
"My dear Capt. Satish Sharma,

Kindly recall our discussions of date regarding allotment of one
retail outlet petrol pump (petrol & Diesel) in the Purana Bazar
area of Dimapur town in Nagaland in favour of my son Benjamin E
K. Hollohon.

As you may be aware. that Benjamin's application and my
earlier note in this regard are available in your Ministry. However,
I am again enclosing copy of Benjamin's application for your
~mtl F
It was indeed pleasure to note that you have very kindly agreed to
allot one petrol pump in favour of my son Shri Benjamin after
careful and due consideration as a very very special case. I shall
personally grateful if you cou1d kindly me your good offices in
issuing suitable instructions to the officials concerned in your G
Ministry so that the possible bureaucratic delays are averted and
the permit is issued without much loss of time. Therefore, I request
your personal intervention in the matter. I hope, you can very well
appreciate may predicament in the matter and am sure, you will
&~~~ H
732 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A The allotment order by the Minister is reproduced hereunder :
"Office of the Minister of State
(P&NG)
***************

B Placed below is an application of Shri Benjamin K. Hollohon
for allotment of a retail outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has
stated that· he is an unemployed youth belonging to Scheduled
Tribe community. The applicant has also stated he no regular
source of income.
c Submitted for kind orders.

Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG) -
D 10/10/94

Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is an
educated unemployed Scheduled Tribe youth without regular
E source of livelihood. The case deserves sympathetic consideration.
Therefore, a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD at Purana Bazar, Dimapur,
Nagaland is allotted to Shri Benjamin K. Hollohon r/o Dur-
gapathar, 2 1/2 Mile, Dimapur, Nagaland, Pin Code -797 112.

Necessary orders may be issued accordingly.
F
Sci/
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

G Syed Hasan Shaukat abidi stated in his application as under :

"Respectfully I beg to state that I was born at Allahabad, Uttar
Pradesh on 20th December, 1965. I have passed B.Sc. and com-
pleted my Master's in Business Administration (specialisation in
Marketing). In spite of my best efforts. I have not been able to get
H a suitable employment. I have no other source of income and am
COMMON CAUSE v. U.0.1. [KULDIP SINGH,J.J 733

entirely dependent on my aged parents for survival. My inability A
to find employment and settle down is causing anxiety to my
parents. Hence, I would most humbly request you Sir, to grant me
a petrol pump at Fatehpur (80 Km. Mile Stone) in Uttar Pradesh."

The Minister passed the following order :
B
"Office of the Minister of State
(P&NG)
************

Placed below is an application of Shri Syed Hasan Shaukat C
Abidi for allotment of a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant
has stated that he has completed his post Graduation in Business
Administration and has not been able to find any suitable employ-
ment. The applicant has also stated that he has no other source of
income and is· dependent on his parents for sustenance.
. . ·n
Submitted for kind orders .

Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG)
16;12 E
Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is a
professional qualified man without any regular employment. The
applicant has no other source of income and is entirely dependent F
on his parents for support and sustenance. The case deserves
sympathetic consideration. Therefore, a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD
at Fatehpur (80 Km. Mile Stone) in Uttar Pradesh is allotted to
Shri Syed Hasan Shaukat Abidi r/o 50/1, Dariyabad, Allahabad,
Uttar Pradesh. G
Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sci/-
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State" H
734 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A It is obvious from Mr. Kelkar's affidavit that Syed Hasan Shaukat Abidi is
the son of justice S.H. Abidi (retd.) who was at that time Chairman of the
Oil Selection Board for Uttar Pradesh.

Shiv Balak Passi applied for allotment of petrol pump in the follow-
ing words:
B
"I wish to state the following about myself. I am a social worker
who has devoted his entire life for the upliftment of downtrodden,
underprivileged. I have been in the forefront in all activities involv-
ing eradication of social evils. But Sir, I am growing old and am
not in a position to support myself. Therefore, Sir, with due respect
c I request you to grant me a petrol pump al Lucknow-Rae Bareilley
Road, Uttar Pradesh."

The Minister passed the following order :

D "Office of the Minister of State
(P&NG)
***********

Placed below is an application of Shri Shiv Balak Passi for
allotment of a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has stated
E that he is a social worker without any regular source of income.

Submitted for kind orders.

Sd-
(G. Gurucharan)
F PS to MOS (P&NG)
21/U

Minister

I have examined the application carefully.' The applicant is an
G educated unemployed who has no regular source of income due
to his serious pre occupation for the upliftment of downtr~dden.
The case deserves sympathetic consideration. Therefore, a Retail
Outlet for MS-HSDA at Rae Bareilley Lucknow Road, UP, is
allotted to Shri Shiv Balak Passi, Ex-MLA, District Rae Bareilley,
H Uttar Pradesh.
COMMON CAUSE v. U.O.l. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 735

Orders may be issued accordingly. A

Sd/-
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

Mr. Kelkar's affidavit shows that Shiv Balak Passi himself is a member of B
the Oil Selection Board for Madhya Pradesh.

Pradeep Kumar, in his application stated that he was an unemployed
young man from Scheduled Caste category with enterprise, initiative and
determination and was very keen to make petrol pump dealership as his
business. He indicated that he was appearing in B.A. (final). He further
c
stated that his father has been an active congress worker since 1952 and
has held many important positions in the organisation as well as on the
executive side. The following order was made by the Minister :

"Office of the Minister of State D
(P&NG)
**********

Placed below is an application of Shri Pradeep Kumar for
allotment of Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has stated
that he belongs to a Scheduled Caste Community and also an E
unemployed Under Graduate.

For kind orders.

Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan) F
PS to MOS (P&NG)
2.0/6/94

Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is a G

-
~

young man from Scheduled Caste Community with no source of
regular income. The case deserves sympathetic consideration.
Therefore, a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD in the Union Territory of
Delhi is allotted to Shri Pradeep Kumar, r/o 18/7, Punjabi Bagh
Extension, New Delhi - 110 026. H
736 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/-
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

B While processing the order, noting on the file is as under :

"Reference notes on pre-page. MOS i1as sanctioned a retail outlet
dealership at Delhi on compassionate grounds to Shri Pradeep
Kumar who is belonging to SC Category. He has stated in his
aplication vide p-1/c that he is appearing in BA final year. He is
c son of Shri Krishna Swaroop member of OSB, Delhi. The allowan-
ces and perks of the Member of OSB exceed Rs. 5000 per month.

2. However, in view of the sanction by MOS, file is put up with a
fair sanction letter for signature, if approved.
D
Sd/-
27/6

Allotment of a dealership to the son of a sitting Member of the
OSB will invite adverse criticism. It will also create an avoidable
E impression that govt. is influe1tcing the OSB in this manner.

Sd/-
27.6.94"

Mr. Kelkar's affidavit shows that Shri Pradeep Kumar is the son of Shri
F Krishan Swaroop, who was at that time member of Oil Selection Board for
Delhi and Chandigarh. Pradeep Kumar in his application did not mention
this fact. The file indicates that despite the .noting to the effect that the
allotment would invite adverse criticism, the allotment orders were issued.

G Mr. Ghulam Ahmad Mir in his application, addressed to the Mini-
ster, stated that due to the escalation of extremist violence in Kashmir
Valley in the recent years, it has become difficult to iead a normal life in
the Valley and as such earning a livelihood has become very difficult. He
further stated that the family was forced to sell some of the ancestral
property. He added that despite being a Graduate he could not get regular
H employment. He also stated in the application that he was aq...:active social
COMMON CAUSE v. U.0.1. (KULDIP SINGH,J.) 737

worker and had been promoting the nationalist cause in the Valley due to A
which he and his family have been facing constant threats from the militants
and extremists in the Valley. The Minister passed the following order on
the application:

"Office of the Minister of State for (P&NG)
B
**************

Placed below is an application of Shri Ghulam Ahmad Mir for
allotment of a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has stated
that he is a graduate from Jammu and Kashmir, who has been
forced to migrate from Kashmir as result of militant threats to his C
life. The applicant has also stated that he has no regular source of
income for maintaining his family.

Submitted for kind orders.

Sd/- D
(G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG)
23/9

Minister
E
I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is an
unemployed graduate from Jammu & Kashmir trying to settle in
Delhi. The applicant is an active social worker espousing the
nationalist cause for which reason he and his family have become
a target of militants in the Valley. The applicant has not been able F
to obtain any suitable employment in Delhi and is finding it difficult
to support his immediate family in Delhi and his parents in J ammu.
The case deserves sympathetic consideration. Therefore an 'A' site
Retail Outlet for MS-HSD in the Union Territory of Delhi is
allotted to Shri Ghulam Ahmad Mir S/o Haji Gh. Hassan Mir r/o
71-D, Pocket 'K', Sheikh Sarai-II, New Delhi. G
Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/-
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State" H
738 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A While processing the Minister's order the office put up the following note
on the file:

"Ref. note above. Sh. G.A. Mir, has furnished his bio-data vide
pp 3-4/C. In his bio-data he has stated that he working as· Member
of Oil Selection Board and is getting Rs. 250 per sitting of the
B Board as honorarium.

2. In view of the above, file is put up for orders whether we may
issue sanction to Oil Company for award of RO dealership, to Sh.
G.A. Mir as per sanction letter placed below if approved."
c Despite the above quoted note, the allotment order was issued. Mr. Kelkar
in his affidavit has stated that Shri Mir is a member of the Oil Selection
Board for Delhi and Chandigarh.

Mrs. Neena Nautiyal addressed a three lined application to the
D Minister. It is stated in the application that she is an educated lady and
belong to Scheduled Tribe Community. Being an unemployed, she wished
to instal a retail outlet in the Union Territory. Delhi. The following order
was passed by the Minister :

"Office of the Minister of State (P&NG)
E *******
Placed below is an application of Smt. Neena Nautiyal for
allotment of a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has stated
that is an educated unemployed lady from Scheduled Tribe com-
munity.
F
Submitted for kind orders.

Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan)
G PS to MOS (P&NG)
19/8

Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is an
H educated lady and belongs to Scheduled Tribe community. The
COMMONCAUSEv. U.0.1.[KULDIPSINGH,J.) 739

applicant is unemployed and has no regular source of income. The A
case deserves sympathetic consideration. Therefore, a Retail Out-
let for MS-HSD in the Union Territory of Delhi is allotted to Smt.
Neena Nautiyal r/o B-399, Gali No. 19, Bhajanpura, Delhi.

Orders may be issued accordingly.
B
Sd/~
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

While processing the Minister's order the office put up the following C
note:

"Ref. above Smt. Neena Nautiyal has furnished her bio-data
vide pp 8-7/C wherein she has stated that her occupation is
agriculture and her and her husband's income is 25,000 & 18,000
per annum respectively. In this connection it is stated that it D
happens from her bio-data that she is the wife of Sh. Ravi Sharan
Nautiyal who is a member of OSB-Punjab.

2. In view of the above, file is put up for orders whether we may
issue sanction to Oil Company for setting up a RO dealership in
favour of Smt. Neena Nautiyal." E
The allotment letter dated 7th October, 1994 was iss1:1ed to Neena Nautiyal.
It is admitted in the affidavit of Mr. Kelkar that Neena Nautiyal is the wife
of R.S. Nautiyal, Member, Oil Selection Board, Punjab.

Arun Kumar Gupta in his application stated that he passed BSc. in F
Production Engineering in the year 1970 and worked as Project Engineer
in the Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd.
at Chandigarh from 1976 to 1989 when he was forced to tender resignation
on political considerations when the Haryana Government was headed by
Shri Devi Lal. It is further stated that since then he was unemployed and G
as such the application for grant of petrol pump. The application was
directly dealt with by the Minister and his Private Secretary in the following
manner:

"Office of the Minister of State
(P&NG) H
740 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A ***********

Placed below is an application of Shri Arun K. Gupta for
allotment of Retail Outlet. The applicant has stated that he is a
professional who has not been able to find a regular employment
and is finding it difficult to make ends meet.
B
Submitted for kind orders.

Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG)
c 22/X/93

Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is a
D graduate in Production Engineering and is without any regular
employment. The case deserves sympathetic consideration. There-
fore, a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD is allotted to Shri Arun K.
Gupta, s/o Shri Harbans Lal r/o H.No. 68, Sector 8-A, Chandigarh
at Sector-20 C, Chandigarh.

E Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/- .
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

F While processing the above order, Mr. S.K. Singh, Under Secretary in the
Ministry wrote on the file as under :

"A retail outlet dealership has been allotted to Shri Arun
Kumar Gupta s/o Sh. Harbans Lal, At Chandigarh under discre-
tionary powers of Govt. vide MOS's order at p-1/n and Govern-
G
ment sanction at p-2/c.

2. Since the allottee has not mentioned anything about his father
and since a similar named person is working as Chairman of one
of the Oil Selection Boards, IOC was asked to check the detail
H from the allottee. A report now received from IOC is placed at pp
COMMON CAUSE v. U.0.1. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 741

5-3/c for perusal. It may be see11 therefrom that the father of the A
a/lottee Sl11i Harba11s Lal is a Retd. judge of the Pu11jab and Haryana
High Cowt and practisi11g Senior Advocate i11 the Supreme Court at
New Delhi, and also fu11ctioning as the Chainna11 of the Oil Selectio11
Board for Haryana.

3. It is humbly submitted that such allotments will i11vite adverse B
public oiticism.

Sd/-
(S.K. SINGH)
US(M.II)/6.12.93"
c
Letter of intent was issued to Mr. Arun Kumar Gupta on December 9,
1993. Mr. Kelkar in his affidavit has stated that Arun Kumar Gupta is the
son of Justice Harbans Lal Gupta (retd), who at that time was Chairman
of the Oil Selection Board, Haryana.
D
Satya Bahin, Ex. Member of Parliament and member of the Oil
Selection Board for Haryana recommended the application of Dharmesh
Kumar for allotment of petrol pump. It was stated in the recommendation
that Dharmesh Kumar's father died few years back, they are poor and his
mother is suffering from Cancer. The Minister allotted the petrol pump by
the following order: E
"Office of the Minister
of State (P&NG)
**********

"Placed below is an application of Shri Dharmesh Kumar for F
allotment of a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has stated
that he is an educated youth from Scheduled Tribe whose father
had passed away while in Government service. The applicant has
also stated his mother who had been trying to support her family
is also afflicted by Cancer which has put the family in difficult G
circumstances.

Submitted for kind orders.

Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan) H
742 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R:

A PS. to MOS (P&NG)
9.11.

Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is an
B unemployed youth whose father's as sudden demise had prevented
from completing his education. The applicant's mother who had
been the sole bread-winnet ·for t,he ·fawilY. is al~o afflicted with
Cancer which has put the family in str~tened circumstances. The
applicant has also not been able to obtain suitable employment.
The case deserves sympathetic consideration. Therefore, a Retail
c Outlet for MS-HSD at Ferozabad-Shikohabad Road, near Mak-
hanpur, Uttar Pradesh is allotted to Shri Dharmesh Kumar s/o
Late Shri Johari Lal (Amin) r/o H.No. 20, Katra Mohammad Mah,
Gandhi Marg, Shikohabad, Firozabad, Uttar·Pradesh.

D Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/- 9/11
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

E In his affidavit filed before this Court Dharmesh Kumar stated that he is
"neither a family member nor dependent on Satya Babin. The deponent is
not closely related to Satya Babin."

Leela Devi in her application stated that her husband expired on 25th
January, 1994. Two clerks of lawyers killed her husband in the premises of
F a
Patiala House. It is further stated that she is housewife with no means of
income to feed herself and her family since the death of her husband. The
Minister allotted the petrol pump by the following order:

"Office of the Minister of State
(P&NG) ·
G ****************

Placed below is an application of Smt Leela Devi for allotment
of a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has stated that her
husband was murdered and ever since his death her family is left
H without any regular source of livelihood.
COMMON CAUSE v. U.O.l. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 743

Submitted for kind orders. A
Sd/
(G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG)
19/5/95
B
Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is a
widow whose husband was murdered. The applicant has no regular
income to support herself and her family. The case deserves
sympathetic consideration. Therefore, a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD C·
at NOIDA, UP is allotted to Smt. Leela Devi W/o. Late Shri
Krishan Swaroop r/o. H. No. B-412/A, Sector No. 19, NOIDA, UP.

Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/ D
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

The material on the file shows that the late husband of Leela Devi was a
dismissed employee of Post and Telegraph Department. He had six sons E
and a house on Kalibari Marg. Late Husband of Leela Devi was living away
from the family for 7-8 years prior to his death. Mr. Kelkar in his affidavit
has stated that Leela Devi is the relative of the driver of the Minister. The
affidavit filed by Leela Devi and the documents attached with the affidavit
read with Kelkar's affidavit clearly show that Leela Devi is the mother of
Nand Kishor who was working as driver of Capt. Satish Sharma. Mr. Kelkar F
in his affidavit has stated that "Smt. Leela Devi happens to be a relative of
the driver of the Minister". Least we can say is that Mr. Kelkar should have
known that Leela Devi was Minister's driver's mother.

Poda Rajasekhar has, in his application, stated that he completed his
B.Com in 1980 and in spite of his best efforts he could not settle in regular G
employment. His father was serving as an Inspector of Customs and
Central Excise. He expired in January 1981. His mother, who was a
teacher, retired on 19.4.1993. He finds it difficult to cope with the present
circumstances. The Minister allotted the pertol pump by the following
order: H
744 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A "OFFICE OF THE MINISTER OF STATE
(P&NG)
**************

Placed below is the application of Shri Poda Rajasekhar r/o.
8-3-897/6 Nagarjuna Nagar, Hyderabad (AP.). The applicant has
B stated that he is an educated unemployed person who has the
responsibility of looking after his mother as well as a cousin, who
is mentally retarded. He has stated that besides his best efforts, he
has not been able to settle in any regular employment. He has
prayed that a retail outlet dealership for MS-HSD may be allotted
c to him at Banjara Hills, Secunderabad (AP.).

For kind orders.

Sd/-
(G. GURUCHARAN)
D PS TO MOS (P&NG)
23.7.93

Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant's case
E is genuine in view of_ the adverse financial circumstances that the
family finds itself in. It is a fit case for sympathetic consideration.
Accordingly a retail outlet dealership for MS-HSD is allotted to
Shri Poda Rajasekhar at Banjara Hills, Secunderabad (AP.).

Orders may be issued immediately.
F
Sd/-
(CAPT. SATISH SHARMA)
MOS (P&NG)"

G Mr. Kelkar in his affidavit has stated that "Poda Rajasekhar is a relative of
Shri Gurucharan, Private Secretary to the Minister".

Madhuri Safaya has stated in her application that she is a native of
Kashmir. She is a young lady and has been rendered homeless due to the
increasing militancy in the Valley. Due to sudden migration to Delhi she
H has not been able to complete her education. On these grounds she
COMMON CAUSE v. U.0.1. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 745

requested the Minister to allot her a pertol pump. The Minister readily A
obliged her by the following order : ·

"Office of the Minister
of State (P&NG)
***********
B
Placed below is an application of Ms. Madhuri Safaya for
allotment of Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has stated
that she belongs to Kashmir and her family has migrated to
Kashmir. The applicant has also stated that she has not been able
to get a suitable job and is without a regular source of livelihood.
c
Submitted for kind orders.

Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG) D
12.10

Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is a
·young lady whose family has migrated from Kashmir and are E
dependent on their relatives for sustenance. The applicant has not
been able to obtain a Stai.table job for herself and is without any
regular source of income. The case deserves sympathetic con-
sideration. Therefore, a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD in the National
Capital Territory of Delhi is allotted to Ms. Madhuri Safaya r/o.
B-6/1, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. F
Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/-
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State" G
Mr. Kelkar has confirmed in his affidavit that Madhuri Safaya is related to
B.N. Safaya, Addl. Private Secretary to the Minister.

Monika Malla in her application stated that her family was forced to
leave Kashmir due to the militant activities. Her family had to dispose of H
746 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A the property at a loss and all the savings has already been spent. She has
to support her parents who are not keeping good health. On these grounds
she requested the Minister for the allotment of pertol pump. The Minister
passed the following order :

"Office of the Minister of State
B (P&NG)
***********

Placed below is an application of Ms. Monica Malla for allot-
ment of a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The applicant has stated that
she is young lady from Kashmir whose family has been forced to
c . migrate to Delhi due to growing militancy. The applicant has also
stated that she has exhausted their family's savings and are finding
it difficult to sustain themselves in Delhi.

Submitted for kind orders.
D Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG)
12.10

E Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is a
young lady whose family had migrated to Delhi owing to militant
activities of the extremists. The applicant's family has no source of
livelihood and she has not been able to obtain any suitable employ-
F ment. The cas~ deserves sympathetic consideration. Therefore, a
Retail Outlet for MS-HSD in the National Capital Territory of
Delhi is allottedto Ms. Monica Malla c/o Smt. Labroo r/o. D-1/54,
Vasant Vihar, New Delhi.

Orders may be issued accordingly.
G
Sd/-
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

Mr. Kelkar has stated in his affidavit that Monica Malla is related to the
H wife of B.N. Safaya, Addi. Private Secretary to the Minister.
COMMON CAUSE v. U.0.1. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 747

Daya Rani stated in her application that she is a housewife of a low A
paid employee having four school going children. It was difficult to live
with the meagre salary of her husband. She wanted to share the respon-
sibility of her husband and as such requested the Minister to allot her a
petrol pump. The Minister obliged her by passing the following order :

"Office of the Minister of State
B
(P&NG)
**************

Placed below is an application of Smt. Daya Rani w/o. Shri
H.R. Verma for allotment of a Retail Outlet for MS-HSD. The C
applicant has stated that she has a family of four school going
children and is finding it difficult to make ends meet with the
income being earned by her husband.

Submitted for kind orders.
D
Sd/-
(G. Gurucharan)
PS to MOS (P&NG)
10.10.94
E
Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is
a housewife whose family is facing difficult financial circumstan-
ces. The case deserves sympathetic consideration. Therefore, a
Retail Outlet in the Union Territory of Delhi is allotted to Smt. F
Daya Rani w/o. Shri H.R. Verma r/o. C-183, Albert Square,
Ramakrishna Ashram Marg, Gole Market, New Delhi.

Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/- G
(Capt. Satish Sharma)
Minister of State"

Shri S.K. Singh, Under Secretary, while processing the Minister's order
noted on the file as under : H
'

748 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A "Smt. Daya Rani, the allottee is the wife of Shri Hali Ram Venna
who is working in this Minist1y as an Assistant and presently posted
to Minister's Offic,e. His annual income from pay and allowances
during 1993-94 is reported Rs. 52,925. However, the allottee has
shown the annual income as Rs. 36,000 which is factually not
correct. It seems that she has shown only the take-home pay after
B deductions. It is for consideration whether the sanction letter
placed blow as per Orders of MOS recorded at p-1/n may be
issued.

-S/d-
c (S.K. SINGH)
US (M. 11)/25.10.94"

Allotment order was issued to Daya Rani on 31st October 1994. Mr. Kelkar
has stated in his affidavit that Daya Rani is wife of H.R. Verma, Personal
Assistant to the Addi. Private Secretary (B.N. Safaya) to the Minister.
D
Vijaya Nair has stated in her application that she is a young
housewife with a large family to support. She has studied up to B.A. level.
The meagre income of her husband could not sustain their liabilities. She
requested the Minister to allot her a pertol pump which was done by the
E following order :

"Office of the Minister of State
(P&NG)
*****************

F Placed below is the application of Smt. Vijaya Nair. The ap-
plicant is a young educated unemployed person with the respon-
sibility of looking after a family which has a meagre income. The
applicant has stated that despite best efforts she has been unable
to obtain suitable job. She has, therefore requested that as a special
case she may be allotted a Retail Outlet MS-HSD in the Union
G
Territory of Delhi.

For kind orders.

Sd/-
H (G. Gurucharan)
COMMON CAUSE v. U .0.I. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 749

PS to MOS (P&NG) A
23.7.93

Minister

I have examined the application carefully. The applicant is an
educated unemployed housewife whose family circumstances is B
one of considerable financial difficulty. The applicant has also
prayed that she has the necessary drive and initiative to run a Retail
Outlet. This is a fit case to be considered sympathetically. Accord-
ingly, a Retail Outlet for MS- HSD is allotted to Smt. Vijaya Nair,
2213, Lodi Road Complex, New Delhi-110003, in the Union Ter-
ritory of Delhi as a special case.
c
Orders may be issued accordingly.

Sd/-
(Capt. Satish Sharma) D
Minister of State"

Mr. Kelkar has stated in his affidavit that Vijaya Nair is related to D.V.
Pillai, Addi. Private Secretary to Minister.

All the 15 allotments - discussed above - have been made by Minister E
in a stereotyped manner. The applications have not been officially received
by the Petroleum Ministry. There is no receipt - entry on any of the
applications. The applicants seem to have appi;_oached the Minister direct-
ly. None of the applications have been dealt with in any of the branches of
the Ministry. There is nothing on the record to indicate that the Minister
kept any criteria in view while making the allotments. How the applicants F
came to know about the availability of the petrol pumps is not known. No
advertisement was made to invite the applications. There is nothing on the
record to show that any other method inviting applications was adopted.
There is no indication in the allotment-orders or anywhere in the record
to show that the Minister kept any guidelines in view while making these G
allotments. The allotments have been made in a cloistered manner. The
Petrol pumps - public property - have been doled out in a wholly arbitrary
manner. This Court in Ramana Dayaram Shetty v. International Airport
Authority of India and Others., [1979) 3 SCC 489, held as under :

"It must, therefore, be taken to be the law .that where the H
750 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A Government. is dealing with the public, whether by way of giving
jobs or entering into contracts or issuing quotas or licences or
granting other forms of largesse, the Government cannot act ar-
bitrarily at its sweet will and, like a private individual, deal with
any person it pleases, but its action must be in conformity with
standard or norms which is not arbitrary, irrational or irrelevant.
B
The power or discretion of the Government in the matter of grant
of largesse including award of jobs, contracts, quotas, licences, etc.
must be confined and structured by rational relevant and non-dis-
criminatory standard or norm and if the Government departs from
such standard or norms in any particular case or cases, the action
c of the Government would be liable to be struck down."

The allotments_ have been made by the Minister either on the ground
of poverty or unemployment. Assuming that the allottees belong to either
of these two categories then how the Minister has selected them out of
D millions of poor and unemployed in this country. As mentioned above no
criteria was fixed, no guidelines were kept in view, none knew how many
petrol pumps were available for allotment, applications were not invited
and the allotments of petrol pumps were made in an arbitrary and dis-
criminatory manner.

E We may examine these allotments from another angle which has very
serious repercussions. Six. of the allottees are related to various officials
working with the Minister. Leela Devi is the mother· of Minister's driver.
Poda Rajasekhar is a relation of G. Gurucharan, Private Secretary to the
Minister. Madhuri Safaya and Monika Malla are related to B.N. Safaya,
F Addl. Private Secretary to the Minister. Daya Rani is the wife of H.R.
Verma, Personal Assistant to B.N. Safaya and Vijaya Nair is the wife of
D.V. Pallai, Addi. Private Secretary. Two of the allottees are related to the
politicians. Sarbjot Singh is the son of Buta Singh who was Home Minister
and at the relevant time was Cabinet Minister heading the Civil Supplies
G portfolio. Benjamin K. Hollohan is the son of Shri K. Hallahan, Minister

-
in the State of Nagaland. Remaining seven allottees are either members of
the Oil Selection Boards or their relations. Shaukat Hasan Abidi is the son
of Justice S.H. Abidi (Retd.), who was the Chairman of the Oil Selection
Board, Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, Arun Kumar Gupta is the son of the
Justice Harbans Lal Gupta (Retd.) who was the Chairman of Oil Selection
H Board,· Haryana. Pradeep Kumar is the son of Krishna Swaroop, who was
COMMON CAUSE v. U.O.l. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 751

Member of Oil Selection Board for Delhi and Chandigarh. Neena Nautiyal A
is the wife of_ R.S. Nautiyal, who was member of Oil Selection Board,
Punjab. Dharmesh Kumar was the recommendee of Satya Bahin, Ex.
Member of Parliament and Member of the Oil Selection Board for
Haryana. Shiv Balak Passi and Ghulam Ahmad Mir were themselves
members of the Oil Selection Board. It is obvious that Capt. Satish Sharma
B
was personally interested in making allotments of petrol pumps in favour
of all these 15 persons. He made allotments in favour of relations of his
personal staff under the influences of the staff on wholly extraneous
considerations. The allotments to the sons of Ministers were only to oblige
the Ministers. The allotments to the members of the Oil Selection Boards
and their/chairmen's relation have been done to influence them and to have c
favours from them. All these allotments are wholly arbitrary, nepotistic and
are motivated by extraneous considerations.

The Government today - in a welfare State - provides large number
of benefits to the citizens. It distributes wealth in the form of allotment of D
plots, houses, petrol pumps, gas agencies, mineral leases, contracts, quotas
and licences etc. Government distributes largesses in various forms. A
Minister who is the executive head of the department concerned distributes
these benefits and largesses. He is elected by the people and is elevated to
a position where he holds a trust on behalf of the people. He has to deal
with the peoples' propercy in a fair and just manner. He cannot commit E
breach of the trust reposed in him by the people. We have no hesitation
in holding · that Capt. Salish Sharma i.n his capacity as a Minister for .
Petroleum and Natural Gas deliberately acted in a wholly arbitrary and
unjust manner. We have no doubt in our mind that Capt. Satish Sharma
knew that the allottees were relations of his personal staff, sons of Mini-
F
sters, sons/relations of Chairmen and members of the Oil Selection Boards
and the members of the Oil Selection Boards themselves. The allotments
made by him were wholly mala fide and as such cannot be sustained.

We are further of the view that Capt. Satish Sharma acted in a wholly
biased manner inasmuch as he unfairly regarded with favour the cases of G
15 allottees before him. The relevant circumstances available from record
and discussed by us leave no manner of doubt in our mind that Capt. Satish
Sharma d,eliberately acted in a biased manner to favour these allottees and
as such the allotment orders are wholly vitiated and are liable to be set
aside. H
752 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A The orders of the Minister reproduced above read : ''the applicant
has no regular income to support herself and her family", "the applicant is
an educated lady and belongs to scheduled tribe community", "the ap-
plicant is unemployed and has no regular source of income", "the applicant
is an uneducated, unemployed scheduled tribe youth without regular
B source of livelihood", "the applicant is a housewife whose family is facing
difficult financial circumstances" etc. etc. There would be literally millions
of people in the country having these circumstance or worse. There is no
justification whatsoever to pick up these persons except that they happen
to have won the favour of the Minister on ma/a fide considerations. None
of these cases· fall within the categories placed before this Court in writ
C petition (Civil) No. 886/93 title Centre for public interest Ligation v. Union
of India & Am:s., decided on March 31, 1995 but even if we assume for
argument sake that these cases fall in some of those or similar guidelines
the exercise of discretion was wholly arbitrary. Such a discretionary power
which is capable of being exercised arbitrarily is not permitted by Article
D 14 of the Constitution of India. While Article 14 permits a reasonable
classification having a rational nexus to the objective sought to be achieved,
it does not permit the power to pick and choose arbitrarily out of several
persons falling in the same category. A transparent and objective
criteria/procedure has to be evolved so that the choice among the members
belonging to the same class or category is based on reason, fair play and
E.
non arbitrariness. It is essential to lay down as a matter of policy as to how
preferences would be assigned between two persons falling in the same
category. If there are two eminent sportsmen in distress and only one portal
pump is available, there. should be clear, transparent and objective
criteria/procedure to indicate who out of the two is to be preferred. Lack
F of transparency in the system promotes neptosism and arbitrariness. It is
absolutely essential that the entire system should be transparent right from
the stage of calling for the applications upto the stage of passing the orders
of allotment. The names of the allottees, the orders and the reasons for
allotment should be available for public knowledge and scrutiny. Mr. Shanti
G Bhushan has suggested that the petrol pumps, agencies etc. may be allotted
by public auction - category-wise amongst the eligible and objectively
selected applicants. We do not wish to impose any procedure on the
Government. It is a matter of policy for the Government to lay down. We,
however, direct that an,Y'procedure laid down by the Government must be
H transparent, just, fair and non-arbitrary.
COMMON CAUSE v. U.0.1. [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 753

This Court in a The Centre for Public Interest Litigation case (supra) A
has endorsed the guidelines submitted by the Attorney General for allot-
ment of petrol pumps, gas agencies etc. The Court in that case did not have
before it the actual manner of exercise of discretion by the Minister in the
allotment of pumps/agencies. The allotment orders which are now before
the Court clearly indicate that leaving the authorities to enjoy absolute
discretion even within the guidelines would inevitably lead to gross viola- B
tion of the constitutional'norms when the persons for allotment are picked
up arbitrarily and discriminatory.

This Court as back as in 1979 in Ramana Shetty's case (supra) held
"it must, therefore, be taken to be the law......" that even in the matter of C
grant of largesses including award of jobs, contracts, quotas and licences,
the Government must act in fair and just manner and any arbitrary dis-
tribution of wealth would violate the law of the land. Mr. Satish Sharma
has acted in utter violation of the law laid-down by this Court and has also
infracted Article 14 of the Constitution of India. As already stated a D
minister in the Central Government is in a position of a trustee in respect
of the public property under his charge and discretion. The petrol
pumps/gas agencies are a kind of wealth which the Government must
distribute in a bona fide manner and in conformity with law. Capt. Satish
Sharma has betrayed the trust reposed in him by the people under the
Constitution. It is high time that the public servants should be held per- E
sonally responsible for their mala fide acts in the discharge of their func-
tions as public servants. This Court in Lucknow Development Authority v.
M.K Gupta, (1994) 1 Supreme Court Cases 243, approved "Misfeasance in
public offices" as a part of the Law of Tort. Public servants may be liable
in damages for malicious, deliberate or injurious wrong- doing. According
to Wade "There is, thus, a tort which has been called misfeasance in public F
office and which includes malicious abuse of power, deliberate malad-
ministration, and perhaps also other unlawful acts causing injury". With
the change in socio-economic outiuok, the public servants are being
entrusted with more discretionary power even in the field of distribution
of Government wealth in various forms. We take it to be perfectly clear, G
that if a public servant abuses his office either by an act of omission or
commission, and the consequence of that is injury to an individual or loss
of public property, an action may be maintained against such public
servant. No public servant can say "you may set-aside an order on the
ground of mala fide but you cannot hold me personally liable". No public
servant can arrogate to himself the power to act in a manner which is H
754 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A arbitrary.

For the reasons indicated above, we conclude that the orders passed
by Capt. Satish Sharma, the then Minister of State for Petroleum and
Natural Gas, Government of India, allotting petrol pumps to Sarbjot Singh,
Benjamin K. Hollohon, Syed Hasan Shaukat Abidi, Shiv Balak Passi,
B Pradeep Kumar, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Neena Nautiyal, Arun Kumar
Gupta, Dharmesh Kumar, Leela Devi, Poda Rajasekhar, Madhuri Safaya,
Monika Malla, Daya Rani and Vijaya Nair are arbitrary, discriminatory,
mala fide, wholly illegal and as such are liable to be quashed.

We, therefore, hold and direct as under :
c
1. The orders - reproduced in earlier part of this judgment -
allotting petrol pumps to the above mentioned fifteen persons are
hereby quashed.

2. The allocation, allotment of the petrol pumps/retail outlet
D Cfealerships by the Government of India, Indian Oil Corporation
Ltd. or any other corporation in the names of the above said fifteen
persons shall stand cancelled with immediate effect.

3. Most of these 15 persons have not as yet commissioned the
petrol pumps. Those who have commissioned the petrol pumps
E
and are running the same shall stop operating the petrol pumps
and running the said business with effect from October 31, 1996.
The Government of India/Oil Corporation (concerned) shall take
over the petrol pump premises from these persons within ten days
thereafter. The Oil Corporation shall have the market-value of the
F site and the construction thereon, determined in a fair and just
manner before October 31, 1996.

4. Each of the commissioned petrol pumps, taken over by the
Government/Oil Corporation (concerned) and the built-up area
along with the site' (whether lease-hold or owned by the original
G allottee) shall be disposed of by way of public auction. The original
allottees may also participate in the auction. The petrol pump shall
be allotted to the highest bidder. The said allottee shall run the
petrol pump on the original terms and conditions. He shall have
all the rights in respect of the site and the construction thereon as
H the original allottee had on the date of auction. Out of the auction

.
:-----
COMMON CAUSE v. U.0.1. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 755

money the value of the site and the construction as determined by A
the Oil Corporation shall be paid to original allottee and the
remaining money shall go to the Government coffer. On receipt
of the said amount the original allottee shall cease to have any
right or interest in the site and the construction thereon. If the
successful bidder is the original allottee, he shall pay the dif-
B
ference between the auction money and the value of the site and
construction as determined by the Oil Corporation.

5. Capt. Satish Sharma shall show-cause within two weeks why a
direction be not issued to .the appropriate police authority to
register a case and initiate prosecution against him for criminal C
breach of trust or any other offence under law. He shall further
show-cause within the said period why he should not, in addition,
be made liable to pay damages for his ma/a fide action in allotting
petrol pumps to the above mentioned fifteen persons.

We place on record our appreciation for Mr. H.D. Shourie, who, very D
ably, assisted us in this matter. He shall be entitled to costs which we
quantify as rupees fifty thousand. The cost shall be paid by Capt. Salish
Sharma personally.

Before parting with this judgment, we may mention about Civil Writ E
Petitions Numbers 4003/95 and 4430/95 which are pending before the Delhi
High Court. In the said petitions, allotment of petrol pumps/gas agencies
to various other persons during the period 1992-93, 1993-94 1994-95 and
1995-96 have been challenged. Transfer petition No. 127/96 has been filed
in this Court seeking transfer of those writ petitions from Delhi High Court
to this Court. We have issued notice in the transfer petition and have stayed F
further proceedings before the High Court in the writ petitions. Various
affidavits have been filed on behalf of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural
Gas. Mr. Devi Dayal, Joint Secretary of the Ministry, in his affidavit dated
March 26, 1995, has stated that in 1995-96 petroleum products agencies
were allotted to 99 persons under the discretionary powers of the Govern- G
ment. It is further stated that orders on file have been made allotting petrol
pumps/agencies to 61 more persons. An affidavit filed by Mr. Srinivasan,
Advocate supporting the transfer petition gives a long list of persons who
are related to the then Prime Minister/Ministers and other VIPs and who
have been allotted petrol pumps and gas agencies. Mr. Devi Dayal, Joint
Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum has filed another affidavit dated H
756 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A April 18, 1996 in reply to the affidavit of Mr. Srinivasan. Para 6 of the
affidavit is as under :

"As regards the list of allottees mentioned in paras 3 to 6 and the
alleged relationship with the Prime Minister, other Ministers,
V.I.Ps., M.P.s/M.L. As., etc., it is to submit that enquiries have
B been made through the Oil Companies from the allottees, who
have replied through affidavits. The comments of the Ministry, on
the basis of above enquiry and records, are contained in Annexure
- I to this affidavit."

C Annexure 1 with the affidavit shows that gas agencies were allotted to six
relations of the then Prime Minister, an age~cy to a son' of the OSD in
Prime Minister's office, LPG dealership to daughter-in-law of the OSD to
the then Minister of Petroleum, a petrol pump to the real brother of
Chandraswamy (Nemi Chand Jain), LPG distributorship to brother of Shri
Bhagwan Shri Satya Sai Baba, LPG dealership to Manju Devi, wife of
D private secretary to additional private secretary of Capt. Satish Sharma, a
petrol pump to wife of V.K. Aggarwal, additional private secretary, Mini-
ster of Law, RO dealership to Rakesh Saluja, son of R.L. Saluja, who was
employed in the Ministry of Petroleum till June, 1993, RO dealership to
Prathiba Singh related to Shri Kalapnath Rai, RO· dealership in January,
E 1995 to Kanti Lal Bhuriya, who at that time was Minister for Tribal Welfare
in the Madhya Pradesh Government, a gas agency to the son-in-law of Mr .
.G. Ganga Reddy, Member of Parliament and various others.

Since the two writ petitions, mentioned above, are pending before
the High Court wherein the allotments made to all the persons mentioned
F above and others, have been challenged, it is not necessary for us to
transfer the writ petitions to this Court. We vacate the stay order granted
by this Court and dispose of the transfer petition. We direct the Registry
of this Court to send all the affidavits filed by the parties in the transfer
petition along with annexures to the High Court. We have no doubt that
G the High Court shall examine the issues involved in the writ petitions and
shall also go into the validity of the allotment lo petrol pumps/gas agencies
to various persons, after hearingthem, in accordance with law. We request
the High Court to expedite the hearing of the petitions.

M.K. Petition disposed of.
H