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Judgment
The petitioners have by way of this writ petition challenged the action of the respondent No.3-Bio Fuel Authority who passed the orders dated
18.02.2018 and 10.04.2017 and they have prayed that the said orders be quashed and set-aside and they be allowed to sell and distribute Bio Diseal
(B-100) through outlet pumps to all the consumers in the State of Rajasthan.
Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that Ministry of Petroleum Natural Gas had issued an order called as Motor Spirit and High Speed
Diesel (Regulation of Supply Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order 2005 which was notified on 19.12.2005. As per the said order, a
dealer was defined under Clause 6, that the supply of motor spirit and high speed diesel blended with ethanol and bio-diesel may be made mandatory
by the Central Government in the whole or any part or territory of the State.
The original notification issued in 2005 was amended vide notification dated 10.08.2015 in following terms:-
“6A. Limited purpose of direct sale of bio-diesel blending with high speed diesel:-
(1) The Central Government may permit the sale of bio-diesel (B-100) for blending with high speed diesel to bulk consumers, in accordance with the
standards specified by Bureau of Indian Standards namely-
(i) the Railways,
(ii) the State Transport Undertakings, and
(iii) other bulk consumers having minimum requirement of bio-diesel for their own consumption by a tank truck load supply which shall not be less than
twelve thousand litres.
(2) For the purposes of clause (1), “oil company’ means the Indian Oil Company Limited, the Hindustan Petroleum corporation Limited, the
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, any private bio-diesel manufacturers, the authorised dealers of such oil companies and Joint Ventures of Public
Sector Oil Marketing Companies authorised by the Central Government.â€
By another amendment notification dated 29.06.2017, Clause 6A was substituted as under:-
“6A(1) The Central Government may permit the direct sale of bio-diesel (B-100) for blending with high speed diesel to all consumers, in
accordance with the specified blending limits and the standards specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
(2) The owner of every outlet selling bio-diesel (B-100) shall prominently display at the place of business the permissible limits specified by the
manufacturers of vehicles and the standards specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards for blending of bio-diesel (B-100) for use of consumers in
their vehicles.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this clause, “oil company†means the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
Limited, the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, any private bio-diesel manufacturers, the authorized dealer of such oil companies and joint
ventures of public sector oil marketing companies authorised by the Central Government.â€
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that in view of the amended clause 6A dated 29.06.2017 (supra) the direct sale of bio-diesel (B-100) for
blending with high speed diesel to all consumers could be made subject to be in accordance with the specified blending limits and the standards
specified by the bureau of Indian Standards. It is submitted that before the aforesaid notification, the State Government through respondent No.3 had
issued an order on 10.04.2017 restraining direct retail sale of bio diesel. However, in view of the amended notification, the said order issued by the
State Government dated 10.04.2017 could not be proceeded further in spite of the amendment having been made, the State Government relying upon
the order dated 10.04.2017 has issued directions on 18.02.2018 restraining from selling bio diesel (B-100) through pumps as direct sale relying upon the
ban provided vide their letter dated 10.04.2017. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that such action was contrary to the notification dated
29.06.2017 and prays to quash the same. With further prayer that they may be allowed to direct selling in terms of amended notification dated
29.06.2017.
Per contra, learned counsel for the respondents states that the various companies are indulging in selling sub-standard bio diesel in terms of the
order dated 10.04.2017, direct sale of bio fuel could not have been made. It is further submitted that in the garb of the notification dated 29.06.2017 the
companies are actually indulging in selling sub-standard diesel which cannot be allowed.
An additional affidavit has also been filed to support his submissions that the test conducted of several samples even the material which was sold was
not bio diesel.
Another submission of the counsel for the respondent is that the sale of bio diesel/bio fuel could be only done after a permit is issued by the Central
Government and as the petitioners do not possess a permit from the Central Government, the bio-diesel sell cannot be allowed to be made and permit
by the State Government.
Having heard both the counsels, I find that the order dated 18.02.2018 has been issued in ignorance of the notification dated 29.06.2017 issued by
the Central Government. The order dated 10.04.2017 whereby in the State of Rajasthan the direct sale was restrained, lost its sting, once the Ministry
of Petroleum and Natural Gas, issued the notification dated 29.06.2017. In other words, the direct sale of bio diesel for blending with high speed diesel
to all consumers became permissible.
The two aspects which the respondents have raised in the reply, also required to be looked into.
So far as the question relating to issuance of permit by the Central Government is concerned, from the documents which have been placed by the
respondents, it is apparent that no such permit is being issued by the Central Government for the purpose of sale of bio diesel to the bio diesel
manufacturers, and therefore, such a requirement cannot be a pre-condition of sale of bio diesel in State.
As regards the question regarding the selling sub-standard diesel/sub-standard bio diesel which does not confirm to the notification issued by the
Central Government and which is not within the specified blending limits and the standards specified by the bureau of Indian standards, apparently
action is required to be taken against such individual dealers and for the said purpose a general embargo of direct sale of bio diesel cannot be
considered as the solution to stop such nefarious activities. Individual cases are to be dealt individually and a general presumption cannot be drawn that
all the dealers where bio diesel is being sold would be sub-standard.
Since there is a bio fuel authority constituted by the State Government, the said Authority is required to act in conformity with the National Policy of
bio fuels and also in conformity with the Order 2005 which has been amended from time to time.
In view of the above, the order dated 18.02.2018 relying upon the order dated 10.04.2017 is quashed and set-aside. The direct sale of bio fuel in
the State of Rajasthan is allowed in terms of their notification dated 29.06.2017.
With the aforesaid observations, the writ petition is allowed.