( 1 ) PETITIONER is an ex-serviceman, who retired on 2nd January, 1984 as Sq. Leader from Indian Air Force when he was 42 years of age. It is a common case of the parties that respondent no. 2, as a measure of rehabilitation, has formulated a policy reserving 7. 5 percent of the Oil Product agencies namely, LPG, Petrol Pumps and kerosene oil agencies, to certain categories of defence personnel. It is one of the various schemes for resettlement of retired service personnel because persons belonging to defence services normally retire at comparatively younger age and much earlier than the retirement age prescribed for civil services.

( 2 ) IN accordance with the aforesaid policy Indian Oil Corporation (hereinafter referred to as IOC, for short)/respondent no. 4 herein issued an advertisement in October 1985 inviting applications for award of LPG dealership at various locations from the candidates belonging to following categories under the defence quota. :-

A. Defence personnel who are permanently and severely disabled either in war or on military duty during peace time.

B. Widows and motherless dependents of defence personnel whose husbands/guardians were killed while on military duty either in war or peace and;

C. extremely deserving cases of ex-servicemen who have no means of livelihood.

( 3 ) THE case of the petitioner is that since he remained unemployed after his premature retirement from Air Force and barely managed to survive and look after his family consisting of wife, son and two daughters with his meager pension, he applied for LPG dealership pursuant to aforesaid advertisement as he fulfilled all necessary eligibility conditions and procedure for allotment of LPG agencies to ex-servicemen as contained in letter dated 13th July, 1987 issued by Directorate General of Resettlement , Ministry of Defence.

( 4 ) APPLICATIONS of the petitioner as well as others who applied pursuant to the aforesaid advertisement were screened and five candidates including the petitioner -- Sq. Ldr. Kashi Nath Singh (Retd.) and Shri Janardhan Chaubey were called for interview by the Oil Corporation Board. On the recommendation of Oil Corporation Board, ultimately Shri Janardhan Chauby was issued Letter of Intent dated 15th July, 1998 offering him distributorship of Indane at Buxar.

( 5 ) PETITIONER challenged this action of IOC by filing Civil Writ Petition No. 510/88 impleading Shri Janardhan Chaubey as respondent no. 9 therein. This Writ Petition was decided by Division Bench of this Court vide judgment dated 28th December, 1998 holding that respondent no. 9-Shri Janardhan Chaubey was not eligible to apply as he had not fulfilled certain conditions. Letter of Intent dated 15th January, 1988 in his favour was accordingly quashed by observing as under:-

"we, consequently, held that one of the necessary condition for the grant of LPG agency to an applicant who fell in the category of "extremely deserving cases of ex-servicemen who have no means of livelihood" was to produce an eligibility certificate from the Director General Resettlement who was to grant the certificate on the basis of certificates from the District Collector and secretary, Zile Sainik Board/rajya Sainik Board stating that the applicant, ex-servicement, was unemployed and has no means of livelihood means of livelihood either from the loanded property or agricultural land. This condition was not fulfilled in the case of Janardan Chaubey and therefore he was not entitled to the allotment of LPG Agency at Buxor. The letter of intent dated 15th January, 1988 allotting LPG Agency to Janardan Chaubey respondent No. 9 consequently liable to be quashed. "

( 6 ) IT may be mentioned that petitioner had also made a prayer that he be allotted the said LPG Agency. This request of the petitioner was not acceded to on the ground that all the applicants who had applied for the dealership were not parties in the Writ Petition and thus allowing the Writ Petition partly, following dire