A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday set aside a single judge's directive to the public sector oil marketing companies to sell high-speed diesel to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at retail price, instead of the higher price charged from bulk consumers.
The Bench comprising Justice C.S. Das and Justice Basant Balaji, while allowing the appeals filed by three public sector oil companies, held that the single judge's interim order was unsustainable in law and observed that it was not the function or forte of the court to decide the optimal or competitive price at which diesel should be sold to the KSRTC.
The court also pointed out that the Supreme Court while dismissing a petition by the KSRTC in 2017 against the withdrawal of subsidy for diesel had observed that subsidy could not be claimed as a right.
