Lucknow, Apr 2 A small typographical error - just one misplaced letter -nearly cost a man his petrol pump dealership but the Allahabad High Court stepped in to undo an order it termed "unfair" and legally untenable.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday quashed an order of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) whereby it had cancelled a Letter of Intent (LOI) issued to Raghvendra Awasthi for setting up a petrol pump in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh.
A division bench comprising justices Shekhar B Saraf and Indrajit Shukla observed that the cancellation, based solely on a clerical mistake in an advertisement, was "unfair" and contrary to law.
Awasthi had been granted the LOI in 2020 and had completed all required formalities, investing substantial resources to operationalise the dealership.
However, in January 2022, BPCL cancelled the allotment citing an error in the advertisement which described the road near the proposed site as MDR (Major District Road) instead of ODR (Other District Road).
During the hearing, the court noted that the discrepancy was purely typographical and did not create any confusion about the location of the proposed petrol pump.
It further observed that no prospective applicant was deprived of the opportunity to apply due to the error, nor was any overriding public interest involved.
The bench also emphasised that Awasthi had acted on the assurance of BPCL and made financial investments, giving rise to a "legitimate expectation" that the allotment would be honoured.
Such expectation, it held, could not be arbitrarily extinguished on a technical ground.
Setting aside the cancellation order dated January 29, 2022, the court directed BPCL to restore the LOI issued to Awasthi and proceed with the allotment process.
