THE Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking a directive to the Centre and others to ensure mandatory and uniform labelling on every dispensing nozzle at fuel pumps, disclosing the exact percentage of ethanol in petrol. A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and P B Varale said that it is not going to entertain the PIL under Article 32 (right to approach Supreme Court directly) and the petitioner Narendra Kumar Goswami can approach the jurisdictional High Court for relief. Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, submitted that it is a proxy litigation as a petition on a similar issue has been dismissed by the court.

 

“The petitioner wants the Government of India to be answerable to him,” the AG submitted. Goswami, who produced a petrol pump receipt before the court, contended that he has the right to know the content of the petrol given at fuel pumps. “Not only me but citizens at large should be informed about the composition of the fuel given to them,” he submitted, adding that in the receipt there is no mention of ethanol content. He further contended that the Attorney General had described the ethanol-blending programme as an “experiment” in an earlier hearing, and said the government later issued a clarification denying such a statement being made. The bench asked Goswami, appearing in-person, to raise his contentions before the High Court.