Point of Law: Section 105 of Transfer of Property Act, 1882 read with Section 17(1)(d) and Section 49 of Registration Act, 1908 which specifically mandates that a lease deed for a period exceeding one year is compulsorily registrable and it would not affect any immovable property if not registered.

JUDGMENT :

Heard Mr. B. D. Konwar, the learned Senior Counsel assisted by Ms. D. Brahma, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner and Mr. S. Borthakur, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. I have also heard Mr. N. H. Barbhuiya the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No.5.

2. This Court vide an order dated 11.01.2019 had issued notice returnable by 8 (eight) weeks and had stayed the cancellation letter dated 23.10.2018 and any consequential allotment of LPG distributorship at Chikni in the district of Barpeta to respondent No.5. The respondent No.5 being affected with the said order dated 11.01.2019 which has been extended from time to time had filed an Interlocutory Application being I.A.(Civil) No.783/2022 seeking vacation/modification/alteration of the order dated 11.01.2019 passed in the accompanying writ petition. The said Interlocutory Application came up for consideration before this Court today.

3. While hearing the learned counsels appearing on behalf of the parties in the said Interlocutory Application, it transpires that any decision on the said Interlocutory Application would have a bearing on the merits of the case. Accordingly, with the consent of all the parties, the matter has been taken up for final disposal at this stage.

4. For appreciation of facts involved in the instant writ petition it would be relevant to take note of that a notice for appointment of distributors of LPG at 93 locations including a location at Serial No.18 pertaining to the respondent No.1 company situated at place Chikni, Gram Panchayat Chikni, Block Ruposhi in the District of Barpeta was published in a news daily. The allotment of the distributorship was to be made in respect a Class Open (Women) insofar as the location at Serial No.18. It was further mentioned in respect to Serial No.18 that the class of the market would be rural and the security deposit would be Rs.4,00,000/- and the marketing plan was 2018-2019.

5. At this stage, it may be relevant to take note of that in the said notice for appointment of LPG distributorship advertisement, a detail translated copy of which was enclosed to the affidavit filed by the respondent Nos.2, 3 and 4 would show that the detail guidelines on eligibility criteria for selection of LPG distributor, insfrastructure requirements of land for LPG godown, land for showroom/ready built showroom, infrastructure for home delivery of cylinders etc. along with the details of selection process were given in the Brochure for selection of LPG distributorship which can be downloaded from any of the Oil Companies’ websites–www.iocl.com, www.ebharatgas.com, www.bharatpetroleum.in, www.hindustanpetroleum.com of IOCL, BPCL and HPCL. Though the petitioner did not enclose the Brochure to the writ petition which ought to have been done, the respondent Nos. 2, 3 and 4 have included the same as Annexure-2 to the affidavit in opposition.

6. For the purpose of instant writ petition, Clause 1(w) is relevant taking into account the land which is required to be offered for obtaining the distributorship. Clause 1(w) being relevant is reproduced hereinbelow.

“1.(w). ‘Ownership’ or ‘Own’ for godown/showroom for Sheheri Vitrak, Rurban Vitrak, Gramin Vitrak and Durgam Kshetriya Vitrak Type of Distributorship means having:

a. Ownership title of the property

Or

b. Registered lease deed having minimum 15 years of valid lease period commencing on any day from the date of advertisement up to the last date of submission of application as specified either in the advertisement or corrigendum (if any).

Additionally, applicants having registered lease deed commencing on any date prior to the date of advertisement will also be considered provided the lease is valid for a minimum period of 15 years from the date of advertisement. The applicant should have ownership as defined under the term ‘Own’ above in the name of applicant/member of “Family Unit” (as defined in multiple de