In Brief
The Indian Oil Corporation awarded a petrol pump dealership to the respondent under a discretionary quota on compassionate grounds. The Delhi High Court later declared this award and 178 others unlawfully arbitrary and vitiated by favouritism, ordering their cancellation and re-auction. The Corporation failed to comply with the Court's directive to identify a new location, instead attempting to re-auction the same original site. The Allahabad High Court stayed the faulty auction and ultimately directed the Corporation to grant fresh dealership to the respondent under its new 2004 policy. The Supreme Court reversed this, holding that awarding her new dealership would perpetuate illegality and undermine the rule of law, and that the original cancellation must remain effective.
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