Judgment :

The petitioner and respondent No. 5, pursuant to the advertisement dated 25.11.2018 issued by the respondent No. 2, applied for allotment of MS/HSD retail outlet dealership at location within one kilometre on either side of Taryara on Jammu-Pathankot National Highway-44 at District Kathua. The candidature of the petitioner was rejected vide communication dated 11.07.2019 and the letter of intent (LOI) dated 20.11.2020 was issued in favour of respondent No. 5 by respondent No. 3.

2. The petitioner through the medium of present writ petition filed on 01.02.2022 has prayed for quashing of communication dated 11.07.2019 and LOI dated 20.11.2020 and has also made prayer for commanding the respondents 2 and 3 to allot MS/HSD retail outlet for abovementioned location in favour of the petitioner and further restraining the respondent Nos. 2 & 3 from permitting the respondent No. 5 to proceed ahead with the establishment of MS/HSD retail outlet pursuant to the impugned LOI.

3. It is stated that as per clause-4 of the eligibility criteria, the applicants are classified into three groups based on the land offered or land not offered by them. Group-I constitutes applicants having a sui