The Supreme Court today temporarily stayed the central government notification cancelling the allocation of petrol pumps and allowed the dealers and distributors to continue to operate them in accordance with the terms of their contracts with oil companies.
The court ordered status quo as on August 9 and it will apply to 2,248 allottees of petrol, kerosene and LPG outlets.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice B N Kirpal also asked for restoration of possession within two weeks of the outlets taken over by the government in 464 cases. It was found that they were being operated by the dealers who had made heavy investments.
Moreover, in the 292 cases which were claimed to be