' SHAMS MEHMOOD MIRZA, J.--- The petitioner being aggrieved of letter dated 4-10-2007 issued by District Coordination Officer, Muzafargarh whereby the petitioner has been asked not to run business of CNG station till obtaining no objection certificate from the National Highway Authority has challenged the same in the present writ petition.
2. Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner is engaged in the business of running of CNG filling stations and has installed CNG station at 770-Multan Road Khata No,911 of mouza Doaba Tehsil and District Muzafargarh. For the purpose of installing the CNG filling station, the petitioner applied for the grant of no objection certificates from the relevant quarters, which NOCs were granted to it. It is stated that after grant of the NOCs, the petitioner started the construction and installation of requisite equipment on the site when he received letter dated 4-10-2007 (impugned herein) from District Coordination Officer, Muzafargarh, respondent No,1, hence this writ petition.
3. Pursuant to the notice issued by this Court, respondents Nos.1 and 2 have filed their respective reports and parawise comments.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner has drawn the attention of this Court towards Notification dated 22nd December, 2006 issued by Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives, through which new sub-Rules to Rule 115 of the Petroleum Rules, 1937 were added. According to newly added sub-Rule (10) in Rule 115 of Petroleum Rules, 1937, for the installation of CNG stations, no objection certificate is mandatorily required from (a) Gas Utility Company (b) Civil Defence and
(c) Tehsil Municipal Officer. It is stated that the aforementioned no objection certificates were duly applied and were granted to the petitioner. The attention of this Court was also drawn toward minutes of meeting held on 5-3-2007 under the Chairmanship of District Nazim, Muzafargarh wherein respondent No,1 was the Convener. In the said meeting the case of the petitioner's CNG station was discussed and was approved. It is contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that letter dated 4-10-2007 could not supersede Notification dated 22-12-2006 and that National Highway Authority had nothing to do with the installation of CNG stations and could not require the petitioner to comply with its Rules. It is further stated that the petitioner had fulfilled all the procedural formalities for setting up of the CNG filling station and respondent No, 1 's impugned letter for making it subject to the grant of no objection certificate from National Highway Authority was illegal and unlawful.
5. Learned counsel for respondent No,2, has controverted the stance of the petitioner and supported the impugned letter on the ground that National Highway Authority has its own Rules which cannot be made subject to Notification dated 22nd December, 2006 issued by Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives. It was further contended by him that any person who comes within the purview of National Highway Authority Act, 1991 and the Rules framed thereunder has to comply with the requirements thereof. He has also referred to judgment dated 30-1-2014 passed in Writ Petition No,28224 of 2013 wherein, with reference to section II (J) of National Highway Authority Act, 1991, it was held that any owner of CNG station who was using right of way on the road under the control of National Highway Authority was required to obtain NOC from National Highway Authority for using the road/right of way for their business.
6. I have heard the arguments advanced by learned counsel for the respective parties and also perused the record with their help.
7. The real issue in controversy seems straight forward and it is whether National Highway Authority Act, 1991 and the Rules framed thereunder are applicable to the petitioner's CNG filling station or not. Before proceeding any further, it would be useful to narrate the circumstance under which the impugned letter was issued by respondent No,l. From the contents of the parawise comments filed by respondent No,2 and the documents appended therewith, it is clear that respondent No,2 right from the beginning had been serving notices upon the petitioner asking it to get the requisite NOC from National Highway Authority. Subsequently, respondent No,2 also wrote letter dated 27-8-2007 to District Coordination Officer, respondent No,1, stating that the petitioner's CNG filling station was carrying out its business "through NHA road N-70 by approaches from amenity to N-70."
Respondent No, 1 was asked through the said letter and a subsequent letter dated 7-9-2007 to take necessary action against the petitioner. Copies of the aforementioned letters were also sent to the petitioner. The petitioner through its legal counsel replied to the said letters and by controverting the stance of National Highway Authority stated that by virtue of Notification dated 22-12-2006, the CNG stations have lawfully been installed. National Highway Authority through its letter dated 28- 9-2007 duly answered the aforementioned letter and cited the policies and Rules framed under the National Highway Authority Act, 1991 to put across its case that "every person who intends to install CNG station outside the NHA Right of Way (ROW) and using NHA land for approaches has to get permission /NOC from NHA."
8. Respondent No, 1 has also relied upon letter No,STO(PSB)3- 4/2007(P) dated 13-9-2007 issued by the Government of Punjab, Industries Department addressed to all the District Coordination Officers in Punjab stating that "... a CNG facility that is to be established on a highway under control of the National Highway Authority, has to conform to spatial requirements prescribed in the Authority's rules and procedures." Subsequently in the said letter, it was also stated that "Therefore, the District Administration has to enforce all statutory requirements where implementation falls under its jurisdiction." It was in these circumstances that respondent No,1 issued letter dated 4-10- 2007 to the petitioner, which it has impugned in the present writ petition.
9. National Highway Authority was established under the National Highway Authority Act, 1991 to manage and operate roads that have been assigned to it. There is no denying the fact that the petitioner's CNG station was built on a road which is assigned to National Highway Authority. The terms "road" and "right of way (ROW)" have also been defined in the Act. "road" means a road including land within the right of way and all works, such as, carriageways, cartways, footpaths berms, side drains, culverts, bridges, tunnels, fences, posts, sign boards, plantation and lighting arrangements, intersections and medians assigned to the Authority."
"Right of Way" (ROW) means the land acquired for the purpose of construction of National Highway or any other road assigned to the Authority.'
10. Similarly, Right of Way has also been defined under the Regulatory Framework and Standard Operating Procedures for Preservation and Commercial use of Right of Way (ROW) 2002 as amended in 2004 as under:- "Right of Way (ROW)" means the land acquired for the purpose of construction of a National Highway or any other road assigned to the Authority or taken over ROW of the roads declared as National Highway or Strategic road under the NHA Act and controlled by the Authority including bridges constructed and owned by the Authority."
' The above definition of Right of Way is the same as contained in National Highways and Strategic Roads Control Rules, 1998 as amended in 2002. Under the afore-mentioned Rules particularly Rules 3, 6, 11 and 12, any person desirous of, inter alia, carrying out commercial activity has to obtain the consent in writing of the National Highway Authority.
' Regulation 1 of Chapter IV of Regulatory Framework and Standard Operating Procedures for Preservation and Commercial use of Right of Way (ROW), 2002, inter alia, states as under:--- "(1) The filling/CNG Stations have been divided in two categories.
(I)
(II) Establishment of Filling/CNG Stations on applicants own land but using NHA land (ROW) for approaches
(a) Filling/CNG Stations already established out of NHA Right of Way (ROW) (at owner's own land) but using NHA Right of Way (ROW) for approach roads without any payment of approach rental charges and NOC fees and not fulfilling the conditions for Construction of public utilities like....
(b) Installation of new Filling/CNG Stations outside the NHA Right of Wu (ROW) and using NHA and for approaches, meeting all criteria under Rules, Regulatory Framework and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of NHA and having NOC from NHA."
11. It is quite clear that the petitioner's CNG filling station uses the approaches from the road under the control and supervision of National Highway Authority. In order to install and run its CNG filling station, it is, therefore, amenable to all the restrictions, consents, authorizations, regulatory framework and standard operating procedures of the National Highway Authority as prescribe by National Highway Authority Act, 1991 and the Rules frame thereunder from time to time.
12. The process of obtaining NOCs under Notification dated 22nd December, 2006 and to obtain the consent and NOC from the National Highway Authority and to comply with the requirements under the Rules framed under National Highway Authority Act, 1991 are mutually exclusive things and run parallel to each other. The petitioner's stance that the process of installation of its CNG filling station is governed exclusively under Notification dated 22nd December, 2006 is wholly misplaced.
Whilst the CNG filling stations that operate on roads not assigned to National Highway Authority are only obliged to fulfil the requirements of newly amended sub-Rules in Rule 115 of Petroleum Rules, 1936 and other procedural requirements prescribed by the Local Governments, the position in regard to the other CNG filling stations is altogether different and compliance with the requirements of National Highway Authority Act, 1991 and the Rule framed thereunder from time to time is mandatory.
13. It is an admitted position that prior to the filing of the present writ petition, notices were served upon the petitioner by respondent No,2 and letters were also exchanged between the legal counsel of the petitioner and respondent No,2 wherein respondent No,2 also explained the legal framework under which the petitioner was required to obtain NOC from it. However, this information was not divulged before this Court in the present writ petition. Although aware of the requirements being imposed by the National Highway Authority in terms of its Act and Rules, the petitioner did not challenge the same in this writ petition. The petitioner only challenged the legality of letter dated 4- 10-2007 issued by respondent No,1 requiring the petitioner to obtain NOC from National Highway Authority. Respondent No,1 has in its parawise comments explained that it was instructed vide letter No, STO(PSB)3-4/2007(P) dated 13-9-2007 issued by the Government of Punjab, Industries Department to enforce the requirements of National Highway Authority Act and Environmental Protection Act etc.
14. In the result, letter dated 4-10-2007 is declared to have been lawfully issued by respondent No, 1.
The petitioner is, thus, required to obtain the requisite NOC from the National Highway Authority through respondent No,1 and is also required to fulfill all the procedural formalities required under the National Highway Authority Act, 1991 and the Rules framed thereunder from time to time.
15. The upshot of the above discussion is that this writ petition is accordingly dismissed being devoid of any merit.