(Tribune)
The J&K High Court issued notices to the Central government, public sector oil companies and other respondents in a petition by Kashmir-based fuel station owners and dealers challenging their decision to open 65,000 new retail outlets, including 632 in J&K. Though the court has not stayed the process of allotment of outlets in the state, it directed the respondents to only process the cases of the applicants who followed the provisions of local laws with reference to the ownership and transfer of the land.
The guidelines for selection of dealers for regular and rural outlets were issued by oil companies on November 24, 2018. In the hearing before a division bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Tashi Rabstan, some of the main grounds taken by the petitioners were that the advertisements for the regular/rural outlets at various locations in J&K were violative of the provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the J&K Alienation of Land Act. Section 4 of the Act prohibits transfer of land in favour of any person who is not a state subject.
