The main legal principle established in the judgment is the mandatory nature of issuing NOC for establishing an auto LPG dispensing unit, emphasizing public safety and the need for strict compliance with statutory requirements.

ORDER

P. Naveen Rao, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for petitioner Sri P.V.A. Padmanabham and the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Home.

2. According to petitioner his family intends to establish auto LPG dispensing unit in the family owned property bearing Municipal House No. 5-8-110/1 to 5, Nampally main Road, Hyderabad under license from M/s. SHV Energy Pvt. Limited, Hyderabad, a franchise of M/s. Super Gas. The licensing authority under the Explosives Act, 1884 approved the drawings of proposed installations vide his letter dated 01.01.2019. As required, an application was made to the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, City Police Commissionerate to grant No Objection Certificate (NOC). The said application was rejected vide order dated 20.03.2019. Aggrieved thereby, he preferred appeal to the 1st respondent-Principal Secretary. The 1st respondent rejected the appeal vide his orders, dated 31.07.2019. Hence, this writ petition.

3. Submissions of learned counsel for petitioner:

(i) According to learned counsel for petitioner, establishment of Auto LPG dispensing units governed by the Explosives Act, and the Static and Mobile Pressure Vessels (Unfired) Rules, 2016 (The Rules) made thereunder. M/s. Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), Nagpur is appointed by the Government of India as licensing authority. The competent authority under the Explosives Act was satisfied with the drawings submitted by the Principal of the petitioner and having satisfied that the site complies with all the parameters to establish the dispensing station, approved the drawings. As can be seen from Rule 47, the District Authority i.e., the 2nd respondent has limited role i.e., to verify the details of the site and approvals of site plan granted by the licensing authority and as a matter of course he should grant NOC. The first and second respondents grossly erred to reject the NOC and erred in placing reliance on Rule 131 (i) and (iii) of Petroleum Rules which has no application. Rule 131 of Petroleum Rules is applicable to the Petroleum outlets and not to the LPG dispensing stations.

(ii) He would submit that the impugned decisions are without jurisdiction and competence, lacks application of mind and amounts to colorable exercise of power.

(iii) Impugned decision offends right guaranteed by Article 19 of the Constitution of India.

(iv) He would submit that NOC is refused on the ground that it is very close to traffic inter-junction, based on a 2006 Circular Memo. Said Circular Memo has no application as the Rules were made after this Memo, governing license to establish Auto LPG dispensing station i.e., in the year 2016, and the Rules do not prescribe such stipulation. Application to grant NOC has to be considered strictly in accordance with the Rules. Thus, the decision of respondents 1 and 2 is ex facie illegal and shows non application of mind.

(v) The impugned decision is also arbitrary and discriminatory. There are several instances where NOCs were issued even though the outlets are located near traffic junctions.

(vi) The subject property is abutting national highway and the area is treated as commercial area and therefore, there can not be an objection to establish LPG dispensing station.

4. Submissions of learned Assistant Government Pleader:

(i). Per contra, according to learned Assistant Government Pleader, NOC from the Commissioner of Police is mandatory to establish LPG dispensing station. Granting NOC is not a matter of course. Competent Authority has to make an assessment of the proposals before granting NOC.

(ii) Permitting commercial activity near a traffic junction can create problems in regulating traffic and can also result in law and order problems. The Circular Memo dated 06.07.2006 prescribes certain norms to consider requests to grant NOC. One of the norms is the premises should be located at-least 100 meters away from traffic junction. In the instant case, the premises is less than 6 meters and therefore, NOC was not