The petrol pump blacklist

Congress spokesperson Girija Vyas, a relative of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, son of former Himachal chief minister P K Dhuma...

Congress spokesperson Girija Vyas, a relative of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, son of former Himachal chief minister P K Dhumal, nephew of former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde, wife of RJD leader Ashok Kumar Singh, son of PMK leader G K Mani, brother-in-law of JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, wife of former JMM MP Simon Marandi and son of a Rajasthan anti-corruption chief.

Welcome to the list of 297 allotments of petrol pumps, LPG and kerosene outlets that the Supreme Court wants cancelled. And which first appeared in this newspaper.

The list, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, has been prepared by a two-judge committee appointed by the Supreme Court. Its brief: to probe over 400 cases of irregular allotments highlighted by The Indian Express in an investigative series in August 2002, showing how these dealerships had been cornered by friends and family of those in power—and some outside it.

Story continues below this ad

With the committee of retired SC judge Justice S C Agrawal and retired HC judge Justice P K Bahri confirming the irregularities, the Supreme Court ruled this week that it would not entertain any argument on the facts of the case.

It granted eight weeks to the counsel for the affected parties to examine the list and raise objections with regard to the irregularities found by the committee.

The list is part of a detailed 21-volume report placed by the committee.

The Bench of Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice D M Dharmadhikari observed that ‘‘as far as the factual aspect of the matter is concerned, it stands closed. If we have to go into the factual aspect of the matter again, then there was no need for us to refer the matter to a high-level committee.’’

THE LIST OF 297 ALLOTMENTS