JUDGMENT

G.B.PATTANAIK

(1) IN this batch of appeals the judgment of Delhi High Court, cancelling the allotment made by the concerned minister from out of his so- called discretionary quota on petroleum dealership as well as LPG dealership is under challenge. Prior to 1995, the minister of petroleum in exercise of his discretion had been allotting retail outlets for petroleum products, LPG dealership and SKO dealership, without having any prescribed norms. A public interest litigation had been filed in this Court by Centre for Public Interest Litigation under Article 32 of The Constitution, praying that guidelines to regulate the exercise of discretion in the matter of such allotment, which results in exercise of the discretion arbitrarily be fixed. It may be stated that initially a prayer had also been made in that application to cancel the dealership in favour of respondent no. 4, but that prayer stood deleted and an amended petition was filed as the said respondent did not accept the dealership in question. This Court after hearing the counsel for the petitioner, and the learned Attorney General, issued a set of. guidelines for discretionary allotment of petr