JUDGMENT :

ABDUL QUDDHOSE, J.

Prayer: Writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for the issuance of Writ of Certiorari to call for the records relating to the impugned order of the 2nd respondent in Ref. No. Mu. Mu. No. 25271/2019/C2 dated 20.12.2019 and quash the same as the same is arbitrary, illegal and non-est in the eyes of law.

1. The points for consideration in this writ petition are whether:

(a) The Indian Road Congress Guidelines, 2009 stipulating a minimum distance of 300 meters between two petrol bunks in a non-urban rural area is mandatory.

(b) Whether a rival competitor has locus-standi to challenge the No Objection Certificate issued to another competitor for setting up a petrol bunk.

2. The case of the petitioner is that the impugned order passed by the second respondent granting No Objection Certificate to the fifth respondent to set up a petrol bunk suffers from material irregularities and violates the norms and Guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways dated 25.09.2003 as well as the Indian Road Congress Guidelines, 2009.

3. It is also the case of the petitioner that the second respondent has placed wrong reliance on