No objection certificate for retail petroleum outlets must be tested against Government Order and IRC distance norms before decision.

Applications for a retail petroleum outlet no objection certificate must be assessed for compliance with the relevant Government Order and the Indian Road Congress guidelines before a decision is taken. The mandatory distance rule in the IRC guidelines is to be taken into account during processing of the application, and action must be taken in accordance with law after verifying such compliance. The operative effect is that consideration of the no objection certificate cannot proceed without checking the applicable regulatory conditions governing distance and siting.

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Issues: Whether the respondents, while considering the application for no objection certificate for a retail petroleum outlet, were required to examine compliance with the Government Order and the IRC guidelines, including the mandatory distance rule.

Analysis: The relief sought was confined to a direction that the application for no objection certificate be considered only after verifying compliance with the relevant Government Order and the Indian Road Congress guidelines. The Court accepted that the directions could be granted and held that the respondents were bound to consider such compliance while processing the application. It further directed that appropriate action be taken in accordance with law taking note of the mandatory distance rule contained in the IRC guidelines.

Conclusion: The respondents were directed to consider compliance with the Government Order and the IRC guidelines, including the mandatory distance rule, before taking a decision on the no objection certificate application.

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