Kerala High Court modifies order on public use of petrol pump toilets

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday modified an order issued by it on June 17 which had held that toilets at petrol pumps are intended only for the use of customers, not the general public [Petroleum Traders Welfare and Legal Service Society & ors v State of Kerala & ors].

After considering certain material submitted by the State government and the Indian Oil Corporation, Justice CS Dias today made it clear that washrooms of petrol pumps on national highways must be open to the public at all times.

Toilets in petrol pumps in other areas must be made available to customers and transit travellers.

"I am modifying the interim order dated 17/6/2024 by ordering that all washrooms of petrol pumps only National Highways shall be open to the public round the clock. With respect to petrol outlets in all other areas, the same shall be made available to all customers and transit travellers in the State," Justice Dias said.

However, the Court also directed petrol pump owners and oil marketing companies to not restrain anyone from using their facilities unless there is a safety or security concern.

"I direct that the petitioners, other retail outlets owners and dealers and oil marketing corporations to not restrict the use of washrooms only if there is any safety or security concern," the Court said.

The Court also pulled apart the State government's submission that petrol pump toilets are considered public toilets due to guidelines in the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Justice Dias pointed out that it is for local self government bodies to provide the toilets. The responsibility to do the same cannot be foisted upon private petrol pump owners or oil marketing companies, the Court said.

"How can you pass on the responsibility of providing toilets to petrol pump owners? It is your duty under Swachh Bharat Mission," Justice Dias orally remarked.

The Court made it clear that government authorities cannot put up boards outside petrol pumps stating that their toilets are public toilets.

"The respondent municipalities are restrained from installing any board outside the petrol outlets of the petitioners stating that their facilities are public toilets," the Court said in its order passed today.

If they were allowed to do so, toilets of any building can be declared as public toilets, Justice Dias pointed out.

"The Swachh Bharat guidelines place the responsibility on Local Self Governments. How can you compel someone else to open their toilets? What is tomorrow the Corporation comes and keeps a board saying the High Court's toilets are public toilets? That is what they are doing," Justice Dias remarked.

The Court was dealing with a petition filed by Kerala's petroleum dealers association and several individual outlet dealers, challenging actions by local authorities which treated private toilets at petrol pump premises as public conveniences.

The petitioners, including a registered association of over 300 retail petroleum dealers in Kerala and individual petroleum dealers, alleged in their petition that municipal authorities had arbitrarily pasted posters on washrooms located within private fuel stations, declaring them as 'public toilets.'

They stated that private toilets maintained at fuel stations were specifically intended to cater to the emergency needs of customers who come to refuel their vehicles.

However, local authorities were reportedly pasting posters with feedback QR codes on such toilets, misleading the public into believing they were meant for unrestricted public use.

They stated that this misrepresentation was causing large crowds, including tourist buses, to access these premises, leading to altercations and chaos, and compromising safety at petrol bunks as per the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) guidelines.

It was further pointed out that such actions violated PESO's 2018 directive, which clearly stated that toilets at petroleum retail outlets were to be used only by customers in emergencies, and never as public utilities.

The petitioners stated that the corporation's excuse for pasting such posters was that they were acting on the basis of a Local Self Government Department Order and Swachh Bharat Mission guidelines.

However, the petitioners pointed out that these guidelines did not authorise the conversion of private facilities into public ones, but rather placed the responsibility of constructing public toilets on the government.

The petitioners thus sought the Court's intervention to declare that their private toilets are protected under Article 300A of the Constitution (right to property) and cannot be treated as public property.

The petitioners were represented by advocates Adarsh Kumar, KM Aneesh, Shashank Devan and Yadu Krishnan PM.

The Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation was represented by standing counsel Suman Chakravarthy.

[Live Coverage]