New Delhi, October 13
The two-member judicial committee that had recommended the cancellation of 297 petrol station allotments, finding them to be made in favour of ineligible candidates by the previous NDA government, found that 54 such cases existed in three northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
But from the list it was difficult to make out that the allottees had any direct “political connection” with the then ruling BJP or its alliance partners.
Of the 54 cancellations recommended by the panel comprising Justice S. C. Agrawal and Justice P. K. Bahri, set up by the Supreme Court to scrutinise the allotments, 29 were from Punjab, 14 from Haryana and 11 in Himachal Pradesh.
Of the 409 allotments examined by the committee across the country, 37 existed in Punjab, 21 in Haryana and 16 in Himachal Pradesh.
Among the other states where “tainted allotments” were found by the committee were Maharashtra (51), Rajasthan (37), Uttar Pradesh (33), Bihar (26), Andhra Pradesh (24), Karnataka (22), Gujarat (10), Jharkhand (9) and one in Orissa.
The committee in its report has said that it has examined each case strictly keeping in mind the eligibility criteria laid down by the government.
The cancellations were recommended mainly on the grounds that the candidates were either outside the laid down guidelines, had suppressed material facts, or deliberately concealed the required information in the prescribed proforma.
The committee said that from the scrutiny of the cases it was clear that merit was not the consideration for allotment of the petrol pumps to these allottees.
A Bench of Mr Justice Y. K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice D. M. Dharmadhikari on Monday had given a virtual approval to the cancellations recommended by the committee, saying that none of these cases would be reopened on facts.
But the court had told counsel of various parties that their plea could be considered if they were able to establish that the cancellations were not made as per the guidelines laid down for the committee by the court while asking it to examine each case.
