The corporation's decision to blacklist the entire fleet upon finding a duplicate dip rod in one truck was justified as per the transport discipline guidelines, emphasizing strict liability for violations.

ORDER :

SUNIL BENIWAL, J.

1. This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner with the following prayer :-

“In view of the foregoing facts and circumstances, it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may graciously be pleased to :

i. issue a writ or certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction calling for the records of the impugned guidelines version 4.0 issued by the respondent corporation and to quash portion of the clause 8.2.2 of the ITDG (Annx 8) which states that ‘complicity of the carrier shall be deemed to be existent in case of Duplicate Dip Rod’ the same being illegal, arbitrary ultra vires constitution of India and void in law.

ii. Call for the entire record of the case and by an appropriate writ, order or direction, quash and set aside the impugned show cause notice dated 28.08.2024 (Annx.2) and the impugned order dated 16.10.2025 (An.1) passed by the Chief General Manager (Operations), Rajasthan State Office, Jaipur;

iii.Direct the respondents to restore the petitioner firm’s transport contract and security deposit forthwith;

iv. Direct the respondents further to remove the name of the petitioner firm and its tank trucks from the blacklist maintained by the Corporation;

v. Declare that the impugned action of the respondents is arbitrary, illegal and violative of Article 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India;

vi. Pass such other and further writ(s), order(s), or direction(s) as may be deemed just, proper and expedient in the facts and circumstances of the case, in favour of the petitioner firm; and vii. Allow this writ petition throughout with exemplary costs, in the interest of justice.”

2. The facts, as narrated in the present writ petition, are that the petitioner is indulged in transportation of petroleum products. The petitioner was awarded a contract by the respondent – Corporation on 15.09.2021. As per the terms and conditions of the contract, the petitioner was required to abide by the Industry Transport Discipline Guidelines (‘ITD Guidelines’). It is submitted that the contract was executed on 17.05.2022 and same was valid upto 15.05.2027. In terms of the said contract, the petitioner deployed fleet of ten Tank Trucks (‘TT’). It is submitted that a sudden inspection was carried out on 04.05.2024 by Location In- charge and Safety officer and during such sudden inspection, it was found that one TT bearing No. RJ-19-GD-8064 was found to be having a Duplicate Dip Rod (‘DDR’). During inspection, it was noted that the DDR was not matching with the calibration chart. The respondent-Corporation, while taking note of such incident, proceeded to take action in terms of the ITD Guidelines and issued a show cause notice to the petitioner on 21.08.2024 while alleging that the petitioner-firm has violated Clause 8.2.2 of ITD Guidelines (Version 4.0).

2.1 The petitioner submitted its reply to the said show cause notice on 23.11.2024, wherein it was categorically stated that dip rod was not kept intentionally in the TT. It was further stated that dip rod was not kept for any undue advantage or any malefic intention and might have been retained in the TT cabin mistakenly by the crew. The TT in question never reported shortage and therefore, requested that the reply may be considered sympathetically and condone the inadvertent error.

2.2 The petitioner was later called for personal hearing on 03.02.2025 and thereafter the impugned order dated 16.10.2025 was passed, wherein the entire fleet including the disputed TT was blacklisted for a period of two years. The blacklisting of TT bearing No.RJ-19-GD-8064 was w.e.f. the date of suspension i.e. from 04.05.2024 till 03.05.2026 and the blacklisting of rest nine T