The court emphasized the importance of verifying the eligibility of a candidate on the last date of the application and upheld the IOCL's discretion to accept alternative land due to the long delay in the processing of the distributorship award.

JUDGMENT

Sanjay Kumar, J. - Award of the LPG Distributorship of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (for short, 'the IOCL') at Pundri in District Kaithal, State of Haryana, in favour of the 5th respondent under the Scheduled Caste reservation category is the cause for grievance.

2. The petitioner, an unsuccessful applicant, initially assailed the letter dated 02.09.2019, whereby the IOCL rejected his complaints, as well as the Letter of Intent dated 05.09.2019 issued by it to the 5th respondent.

3. Thereafter, by way of his amended prayer, he also assailed the order dated 26.06.2020 of the IOCL rejecting his later complaint dated 09.06.2020.

4. The petitioner's challenge is based on his claim that the 5th respondent was ineligible to be considered for allotment of the subject distributorship as his offer of lands for the proposed godown and showroom was not in conformity with the prescribed norms.

5. The subject distributorship was advertised on 20.11.2013 under Scheduled Caste category and the last date for submission of the applications was 20.12.2013. It appears that the process relating to award of this distributorship and several others was delayed due to factors beyond the control of the IOCL. Ultimately, 12 applicants were found eligible and were short-listed for the draw for selection. The 5th respondent emerged successful in the draw held on 24.01.2019 and was declared selected. 7 out of the 12 short-listed applicants were present at the time of the draw.

6. Thereupon, the petitioner submitted complaint dated 18.02.2019 (received on 22.02.2019) alleging that the 5th respondent was not entitled to the allotment of the distributorship as his candidature did not conform to the guidelines. The said complaint, along with the petitioner's later complaint dated 10.04.2019 (received on 18.04.2019), were rejected by the IOCL, vide the letter dated 02.09.2019. Letter of Intent dated 05.09.2019 was then issued to the 5th respondent, confirming the offer of the distributorship, subject to fulfillment of conditions.

7. Having filed this writ petition in September, 2019, the petitioner again made a complaint to the IOCL on 09.06.2020 (received on 12.06.2020) reiterating his allegation that the 5 th respondent was ineligible for award of the subject distributorship as per the guidelines. This complaint was considered and rejected by the IOCL, vide order dated 26.06.2020. Thereafter, the Letter of Appointment was issued by the IOCL in favour of the 5th respondent on 29.06.2020 and the LPG Distributorship was commissioned by the 5th respondent on the same day, under the name and style of M/s Rudraditya Indane.

8. Before examining the contentions of the petitioner, it would be appropriate to take note of the norms relevant to this case, prescribed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, vide the 'Guidelines on Selection of Regular LPG Distributorships applicable to all Locations Advertised/Re-advertised from May 2013 onwards'. These guidelines provide the eligibility criteria to meet the minimum requirements of educational qualifications, finance and infrastructure for operating a LPG distributorship. They do not provide for a marks-based evaluation or interview for the selection, as the same is to be carried out by a transparent system of draws and all applicants meeting the eligibility criteria qualify to participate in such draws.

9. Clause 9 of the guidelines deals with 'Eligibility Criteria for Individual Applicants'. Sub-clause (vii) of Clause 9.1 deals with the requirements of the LPG cylinders storage godown. To the extent relevant, it reads as under:-

"vii. Should own as on the last date for submission of application as specified in the advertisement or corrigendum (if any) :

a plot of land of minimum dimensions 25 M x 30 M (within 15 km from municipal/town/village limits of the location offered in the same State) for construction of LPG Godown for storage of 8000 Kg of LPG in cylinders. The plot of land for co