Karnataka HC refuses to intervene with orders capping kerosene supply

Bengaluru: The courts would not run the race of distribution of any kind in a public distribution system, unless the distribution depicts palpable arbitrariness, Karnataka High court observed in a recent judgement.

The court said this while dismissing the petition filed by the Akhila Karnataka Kerosene Wholesale Dealers Association, challenging orders reducing the supply of kerosene in certain taluks/districts.

The petitioners challenged the order dated October 8, 2021 and the subsequent official memorandum dated October 11, 2021 issued by the state government.

The first order restricted supply of kerosene to LPG gas holders (one litre per household and three litres to non- LPG holders). The official memorandum declared 20 districts to be non kerosene districts and also increased the monthly supply from one litre to two litres in certain selected taluks of 11 districts based on the directions issued by the union government.

According to the petitioners, the state government’s decision is arbitrary which puts the dealers as well as the consumers into hardships. It was argued that distribution of kerosene to all the taluks in the state should be on a uniform basis.

On the other hand, the state government submitted that kerosene card count in all the districts has dwindled, as usage of kerosene itself has come down in various urban areas and also in some of the rural areas. It was also informed to the court that the remodeling of the supply is as directed by the union government in terms of a policy decision.

Justice M Nagaprasanna perused the statistics obtained by the union government in 2021, which showed that the kerosene card count in Karnataka was 5,182, indicating dwindling use of the kerosene by the citizens. The court also noted that insofar as the state of Karnataka is concerned, the allocation is 7440 kiloliters and the usage is for 5182 cards, which is far beyond what is necessary to be allocated.

“No consumer has come forward contending that the restricted distribution of kerosene to 1 liter to LPG card holders and 3 liters to non-LPG card holders has put their lives into jeopardy. It is dealers who are crying foul of the Government order. Public distribution system unless smacks arbitrariness or is on the basis of which discrimination ensues, only then it is amenable to judicial review,” Justice Nagaprasanna said.

The court further said, “The courts exercising jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution would be loathe to interfere with any such policy, unless it projects exceptional circumstances of violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The Government orders are neither arbitrary nor discriminatory. They allegedly take away the revenue of dealers and taking away imaginary revenue of the petitioners would not bring them to the doors of this Court seeking a challenge to the Government order with regard to distribution of kerosene. It is trite that personal financial interest should always yield to larger public interest. As observed hereinabove, this Court would not sit and monitor usage of kerosene by whom, for what purpose, either for cooking or illumination. If this petition is entertained, it would amount to the court monitoring public distribution system.”