P. Sathasivam, J.

Aggrieved by the order of the learned single Judge dated 111. 1999 made in W.P.No.7582 of 1998, allowing the writ petition filed by the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Chennai, the respondent in the writ petition,l viz., Department of Weights and Measures, Chennai-9, the Controller of Legal Metrology, Chennai-6 and the Assistant Controller of Legal Metrology, Chennai-6, have filed the above writ appeal.

.2. The respondent herein is the writ petitioner – Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., (in short, "the Company"), which is a Company within the meaning of Section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956. The Company has its refineries at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam with a wide network of depots, terminals, LPG bottling plants, etc. One of such terminal is located at Tondiarpet, Chennai 21, for storage of Motor Spirit, High Speed Diesel and other allied products. The depots including the one at Tondiarpet, Chennai 21, have storage facilities consisting of large capacity tankers for storing petroleum and its allied products, transported through pipelines and/or by wagons, or by tanker lorries for distribution throughout the State of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring States. The tanker lorries transporting petroleum and its allied products from Terminals/Depots to the retail outlets, etc. are owned by the Company or taken on contract by the Company from private transporting contractors. All the trucks are built and fabricated as per specifications of the Petroleum Act, 1934. The tanks of the said tanker lorries vis-a-vis their "dip rods" (for measuring quantity of the product) are calibrated and verified periodically by the Weights and Measures Authorities, as per the Standards of Weights and Measures Law. The "dip rod" is used as a standard measure by the Company as well as the retailers. The petitioner Company transports petroleum and its allied products from the storage tanks at terminals/depots to the retail outlets for subsequent distribution at the retail outlets directly to consumers. The procedure followed by the Company, the equipment and the infrastructure used by the Company for the purpose of storage and filling the said product into the tank trucks, etc. are totally internal matters of the Company. The equipment that is being used by the Company does not require any verification or reverification under the Standards of Weights and Measures Laws. Since the officials of the Department of Weights and Measures without adhering to the statutory provisions interfered with its affairs, the Company approached this Court by filing the writ petition seeking to issue a writ of certiorarified mandamus calling for the records of the third respondent, the Assistant Controller of Legal Metrology, Chennai-6, relating to the notice dated 03.04.1998 and quash the same and further direct the respondents from in any manner proceeding against the petitioner Company under the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act, 1985 and the Rules framed thereunder.

.3. Before the learned single Judge, the Joint Secretary to Government, Labour and Employment Department, Chennai 9, filed a counter affidavit stating that even the measuring instrument flow meters are well within the definition of Section 2(zc) and 2 (zd) of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 (Tamil Nadu Act 60 of 1976) (in short, the Act), as they are being used exclusively or additionally for verifying measurement. The flow meters are being used as measuring instruments, they have to be verified and stamped. The "dip rod" which is also a measuring instrument is quite different from that of flow meters, as the "dip rods" are used to know the particulars of capacity of the compartments in the tanker lorries, whereas, flow meters are used to

.assess the flow of petroleum products during the course of filling up the tanker lorries.

4. The learned single Judge, after finding that the flow meters are not being used in any trans