' Brief relevant facts of the case are that the appellant is a franchise holder for Pakistan State Oils (PSO); he earlier had established a petrol pump at Jail Road, Lahore, which perhaps on account of the widening of the road was uprooted, thus in order to compensate the appellant and for the same purpose, the land was given to him at Sanda Road, Lahore under an agreement to sell dated 16-4-2002 between him and the City District Government/respondent No,4. In order to reestablish the same undertaking, the appellant according to him, obtained the requisite no-objection certificates from all the concerned and this is not disputed by the respondents and submitted the site plan and the design for the approval of the local Government and also, the Inspector of Explosives, which authority has been established under the provisions of Petroleum Rules framed under Petroleum Act, 1934 (Act No,XXX of 1934). There is nothing on the record if the plan was either approved or disapproved by the Local Government but admittedly, it got due approval from the Inspector Explosives on 24-9-2002 and since then, the appellant has been conducting his business of petrol pump at Sanda Road; thereafter the appellant decided to add CNG facility to the same petrol pump and accordingly applied to respondent No,4 for the requisite no objection certificate, which was granted on 6-11-2005; on account of the above, the appellant approached the Chief Inspector of Explosives of Pakistan for the installation of the CNG Filling Station at the site; this design and plan according to the appellant, had been approved and pursuant thereto the CNG was duly installed at the site. The appellant, however, received a letter dated 20-1-2009 (the impugned letter) from the member Punjab Local Government Commission dated 20th January, 2009, which reads as below:-- "Subject: Complaint regarding illegal construction of CNG/Petrol Pump, adjacent to Punjab Local Government Complex, Atif Chowk, Sanda Road, Lahore ' Whereas a complaint regarding illegal construction of CNG/Petrol Pump by you adjacent to Punjab Local Government complex is under inquiry in the Punjab Local Government Commission.
' You are therefore, afforded a chance to appear in the inquiry proceeding to get record your statement and to offer you written/oral defence and evidence, if any on 26-1-2009 at 10-00 a.m. In the office of Mr. Akhtar Mahmood, Member Punjab Local Government Commission."
' Pursuant to the above, the appellant appeared before the Officer who apprised him, that the appellant's request for construction/establishment of the petrol pump had been earlier rejected on 3-2-2003. It may be pertinent that as per the record, there is no material/document placed by respondents Nos.3 to 4 to show, if such rejection was conveyed to the appellant and the alleged reasons in this behalf.
2. Aggrieved of the above, the appellant impugned the letter dated 20-1-2009 through Writ Petition No,2146 of 2009, which has been dismissed by the learned Single Judge in Chamber vide order dated 6-2-2009; the operative part thereof is reproduced as below:-- "In pith and substance, the dispute inter se the parties is whether for the establishment of a petrol pump/CNG Station, any specific permission is required from the authorities under the Punjab Local Government Ordinance or not. The contention being raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that permission under the Petroleum Rules would be sufficient is wholly misconceived, inasmuch as such permission is in addition to and not in substitution of the sanction of the site plan by the local authorities. Any and all constructions raised within the jurisdiction of respondents 4 and 5 must be in accordance with rules and regulations including those pertaining to zoning, use of land and building regulations. In specific cases e.g. For setting up of petrol pump/CNG Station in addition thereto, further permission must necessarily be obtained and requirements fulfilled.
Admittedly, in the instant case, the building plan has not been sanctioned by respondents Nos. 4 and 5. Reference to NOC by the DCO is also misconceived as the aforesaid Certificate is subject to the building/site plan to be approved by the concerned departments/agencies as is clearly stated therein. Similarly, letter dated 18-9-2002 issued by DCO to the PSO appended herewith clearly unfolds that the construction should be in accordance with the design and the plan is approved by the City District Government according to building regulations. In this review of the matter, it is clear and obvious that the petitioner does not possess the pre-requisite consent/permission of respondent No,4 for raising construction at site for the establishment of petrol pump/CNG Station, and inquiry in that regard is being conducted, hence this Court is not inclined to interfere therewith with the result that this petition stands dismissed accordingly. However, the petitioner does not stand precluded from filing a fresh application for obtaining requisite sanction/permision of his site plan from respondent 4 or 5,' as the case may be."
' Hence this appeal.
3. Dr. A. Basit, learned counsel for the appellant has argued that , the reasoning given in the impugned judgment is erroneous, unfounded and against the law. It is submitted that as per rule 115(11) of the Petroleum Rules, 1937, the Chief Inspector of Explosives has the exclusive jurisdiction to grant the approval/licence for the establishment of the CNG Station and also for the sanction of the building plan and design thereof. Therefore, in the law, the Local Government has no authority to require any person who intends to establish a petrol pump/CNG Station to seek the approval/licence of the nature as mentioned, above; however, the only requirement is the grant of the no objection certificate, which was accordingly given to the appellant by all the concerned authorities and there is no cavil between the parties in this behalf. He has also pointed out that earlier the matter had been referred to the DCO, who vide his communication dated 26-11-2008 came to the conclusion that "as such construction of CNG/petrol pump at the size in question appears to be illegal" thus on the basis of above, learned counsel has challenged the authority of the City District Government from taking any action against the petitioner on account of the impugned letter dated 20-1-2009.
4. Mr. Naveed Inayat Malik learned DAG along with Mr. Abdul Ali Khan, Inspector of Explosives Lahore, present in the Court has fully supported the contentions of the learned counsel for the appellant and it is unequivocally stated that to approve and grant the licence for the establishment of the petrol pump/CNG Station and for the purpose of sanction of the building plan and design thereof, it is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Explosives Department and in this case the appellant had fulfilled all the essential requirements including no objection certificate, which was granted by the City District Government, whereafter necessary approval in all respect has been accorded by the Inspector of Explosives.
5. Kh. Muhammad Afzal, learned counsel for the City District Government has stated that earlier the Petrol Pump of the appellant was existing at Jail Road, but for the widening of the road, that was demolished and for compensating him, the present land at Sanda Road was given, the letter of the DCO dated 26-11-2008 to which reference has been made is only about the issue, whether the appellant was required to pay any commercialization fee or not on such land, and not regarding the sanction and approval of the building plan etc. Which is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the City District Government.,
6. Learned counsel for respondent No,5 has also stated that according to the Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001 and the rules and building regulations framed thereunder, the construction of any building of whatsoever nature including the petrol pump/CNG Station is subject to the approval of its plan by the city District Government or the concerned town.
7. Heard. According to the provisions of section 3 of the Petroleum Act, 1934 M"no one shall import, transport or store any petroleum save in accordance with rules made under section 4."; Under section 4(f), Federal Government is empowered to make rules for "regulating the places at which and prescribing the conditions subject to which petroleum may be stores"; clause (g) provides "specifying the nature, situation and condition of all receptacles in which petroleum may be stored"; clause (j) prescribes "providing for the grant of combined licence for the import, transport and storage of petroleum, or for any two of such purposes". Clause (1) is for "generally, providing for any matter which in its opinion is expedient for proper control over the import, transport, and storage of petroleum".
8. Pursuant to the this, the Act, Petroleum Rules 1937 have been framed and rule 90 requires the licence for storage of the petroleum and states "Save as provided in sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Act by rule 109 no one shall store any petroleum except under a licence granted under these rules". The grant of licence is regulated by the Rule 115 i,e, Grant of licence (1) Licences for importation and storage may be granted by the licensing authorities set forth in Schedule I in the forms, for the purposes, and on payment of the fees, specified therein." Sub-rule (3) of Rule 115 enunciates "Where the licensing authority is the Chief Inspector, an applicant for a new licence may apply to the District Authority for a certificate to the effect that there is no objection to the applicant receiving a licence for the site proposed and the district authority shall, if he sees no objection, grant such certificate to the applicant, who may forward it to the Chief Inspector with his application in Form D." In sub-rule (7) it is mentioned "In the case of a licence granted for storage one copy of the plan or plans of the storage premises signed in token of approval by the licensing authority shall be attached to the licence and one copy shall be filed for record in the office of the licensing authority".
9. From the above, it is quite clear that the role of the Local Government/District Authorities is only limited to the extent of the grant of a no objection certificate or otherwise, however, even it has nothing to do with the grant of requisite licence and/or the approval of the site plan for the purpose of storage, which obviously shall include the sale when it is meant .For the purpose. Rather all the above within the exclusive domain and jurisdiction of the licensing authority. This has been further elucidated in the cases of the installation of the CNG station at those places where the petrol pump is already in existence, when by adding sub-rule (9) of R.115 (which had been added vide notification S.R.0.1(KE)/2007, dated 22-12-2006), it is provided unequivocally "For installation of a CNG station at any existent petrol pump, no additional NOC shall be required except permission foi construction and installation and licence for the operation from the Department of Explosives." Rule 11 prescribes "the permission for construction and installation of CNG Station along with the plan approval shall be granted by Chief Inspector of Explosives under Petroleum Act, 1934 (XXX of 1934) the Explosives Act, 1884 (IV of 1884). "
10. The object, purpose and the scheme of the above mentioned Act and the rules for the storage and approval of the site plan is quite vivid and obvious. The petroleum (for definition see section 2(a) of the Act) is a Federal subject and because of the imperil involved in its carriage and storage, etc. a specific law has been enforced, and being special in nature, shall have precedence over the general law, therefore, without going into the question, whether the provisions of the Local Government Ordinance 2001 is a Provincial or Federal legislation (this was also a question debated in the course of submissions), suffice it to say that in the cases pertaining to the grant of the licence for the purpose of storage, the special law shall prevail. And according to the said law, any site plan for the purpose of establishment of a petrol pump and particularly for the CNG including its design, and construction for the installation, etc. Shall be exclusively approved by the authority contemplated by the said Act and the Rules. It may be reiterated that because of the sensitivity and danger involved in the handling of the petroleum, an expert and specialized knowledge of its storage and design, etc. Is undoubtedly conceived and required under the law, it is therefore a special department is conferred with the power for the approval of a plan and design.
11. If it is held that both the authorities, i,e, the Inspector of Explosives and the City District Government shall have the concurrent jurisdiction to approve the plan or possess separate and independent jurisdiction, it would give rise to serious anomalous situation, for example, if on the basis of the expert consideration, the building plan is approved by the Inspector of Explosives, but it is disproved by the City District Government, or otherwise what shall be the fate and the remedy available to a person, who genuinely wants to install a petrol pump/CNG. A person in such a situation cannot be compelled to seek the approval from two distinct authorities at the same time and should hang in the doldrums and caught in the ting of war between the two departments. In our considered view, the building plan of a petrol pump/CNG is within the exclusive domain of the Chief Inspector or the Inspector of the Explosives Department under the Act/Rules and for the approval of the building premises of the petrol pump and CNG station, general law enunciated by the Ordinance, 2001 or any rule framed or regulation thereunder, shall be absolutely inapplicable.
Therefore, by allowing this appeal, the impugned order of the learned Single Judge in chamber dated 6-2-2009 is set aside and by accepting the writ petition, the impugned order date& 20-1- 2009 is declared to be without lawful authority and jurisdiction.