In Brief
A woman received a petrol pump dealership from a government minister's discretionary quota on compassionate grounds. A public interest litigation challenged this and 179 other similar allotments as illegal and arbitrary, resulting in a 1997 High Court judgment cancelling them all for violating equal treatment principles. Despite this final judgment, the Corporation failed to properly implement the Court's auction direction and instead, years later, awarded the woman a fresh dealership under a new policy. The Supreme Court held that perpetuating such benefits to her would reward illegality and undermine the rule of law. The Court set aside the fresh dealership, emphasized the Corporation's failure to comply with judicial mandates, and directed an inquiry into official misconduct.
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