1. The scope of the 'NOC' to be issued by the District Authority under Rule 144 of the Petroleum Rules, 2002 is the subject matter involved in all these writ petitions.

2. The crux of the contentions raised, except W.P.(C) No. 4863 of 2011, is that the petitioners are the existing retail dealers of petroleum products marketed/distributed by the three Oil Companies in the public sector, viz. The Indian Oil Corporation Limited, The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. The said petitioners are stated as aggrieved of the steps being taken by the Petroleum Companies (Company in short) to appoint new retail outlet dealers in the respective areas, inviting applications in this regard through advertisements, without any regard to the feasibility or the potential of the area and in turn, affecting the returns of the petitioners quite adversely. It is contended that, because of the unhealthy competition among the Companies in setting up more and more new units, the entire business is plunging into losses, putting it quite detrimental to the investments made by the petitioners and also without any regard to the 'public money' being inve