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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, J.
Poonam Devi - Appellant
Versus
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd - Respondent
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 330 of 2019
Decided On : 05-10-2020
LPG Distributorship - Termination of Agreement - Irregularities in PMUY Scheme - Violation of Principles of Natural Justice - Waiver - Arbitration Clause.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a Bharat Gas distributor, challenged the termination of her distributorship agreement by the respondent corporation. The termination was based on irregularities found in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme, a government scheme providing free LPG connections to BPL households. The petitioner alleged that the termination order was issued in violation of the principles of natural justice and that the corporation had waived its right to terminate the agreement by accepting a fine and compensation from the petitioner for the irregularities.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the termination order was not issued in violation of the principles of natural justice. The petitioner had been given ample opportunity to explain the irregularities and had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. The court also held that the corporation had not waived its right to terminate the agreement by accepting the fine and compensation. The corporation had specifically stated in its letter accepting the fine and compensation that it was without prejudice to its other rights under the agreement.
Issues: 1. Whether the termination order was issued in violation of the principles of natural justice? 2. Whether the corporation had waived its right to terminate the agreement by accepting the fine and compensation?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the termination order was not issued in violation of the principles of natural justice because the petitioner had been given ample opportunity to explain the irregularities and had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. 2. The court held that the corporation had not waived its right to terminate the agreement by accepting the fine and compensation because it had specifically stated in its letter accepting the fine and compensation that it was without prejudice to its other rights under the agreement.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the petition.
JUDGMENT
Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, J. - Petitioner in the present case has moved this court in it''s extraordinary writ jurisdiction for the following reliefs:
"I. To quash the order contained in letter vide Ref. LPG. ER. PATN.6.OM SAI BHARAT GAS dated 27.10.2018 issued by Respondent No. 2, by which Bharatgas (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Distributorship (Domestic & Commercial) Agreement dated 15.03.2013, entered between the Petitioner and the Respondent Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has been terminated.
II. To direct the Respondent to reinstate the LPG Distributorship of the Petitioner which is running in the name & style of M/s Om Sai Bharatgas, Opp. Bata Factory, Gandhi Road, Bataganj, Digha, District - Patna, and to make the said distributorship operational."
Case of the petitioner
2. Petitioner was appointed as a Bharat Gas Distributor by respondent Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as the ''BPCL'' or respondent no. 1) for sale of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in cylinders for household consumers and commercial consumers in the territory or Distribution area of Patna Municipality in the district of Patna. The Distributorship was running in the name and style of M/s OM SAI BHARATGAS as a proprietorship firm of the petitioner. The Distributorship Agreement dated 15.03.2013 (Annexure ''1'' to the writ application) got executed between the parties.
3. The Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in the month of March 2016 whereunder free LPG connections were to be provided by the Oil Manufacturing Companies (OMCs) to the women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) household. The guidelines of PMUY has been issued by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, a copy of the Guideline is Annexure ''2'' series to the writ application.
4. It is the specific case of the petitioner that under the Scheme Guideline (Annexure ''2'') a duty has been cast upon the OMCs to match the application against the Socio-Economic Castes Census (SECC) which exercise has been undertaken in the year 2011. It was the duty of the OMCs to match the application against the database of SECC - 2011 and after ascertaining their BPL status, enter the details into a dedicated OMCs wave portal through a Login Password given by the OMCs. The modalities in this regard has been approved by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India and in this regard heavy reliance has been placed by learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner on Annexure ''2'' series which provides for the scheme for release of free connection to the BPL women. Paragraph ''6'' thereof provides for implementation modalities of the scheme.
5. It is his submission that under the Scheme it is the OMCs who will release the connection to women of BLP families after completing the procedure detailed in the Scheme. The OMCs shall after completing the procedure submit their claims for the connections released from 01.04.2016. The claim shall be lodged on quarterly basis and it will be submitted to PPAC (Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell) who will scrutinize and forward the claims to Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas which will in turn reimburse the claim of OMCs.
6. Learned Senior Counsel representing the petitioner has thus taken this court through Annexure ''2'' series and again through Annexure ''3'' to demonstrate that the identification of beneficiary is the work of OMCs and not of a LPG Distributor like the present petitioner.
7. It is submitted that the officials of Patna LPG Territory of respondent no. 1 instead of following the procedure/guidelines of the respondent no. 1 called upon the Distributor to do the exercise and for this purpose respondent no. 1 provided ''SECC'' Data in Pen Drive for processing the Ujjwala KYC application form and for searching names of prospective customers from ''SECC'' List. The beneficiary under the ''PMUY'' Scheme could be identified through ''SECC'' List wherein 29 Dig
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