Toilets In Petrol Pumps Along National Highways Must Be Open To Public 24/7 : Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court today modified its earlier interim order to mandate that all petroleum retail outlets located along National Highways in the state keep their washrooms open to the public 24/7.The Court directed that all washrooms in petroleum retail outlets along National Highways must be open to the public round the clock with display boards announcing their availability.It further noted that similar access must be granted to all customers and transit travellers at retail outlets across the state. It clarified that any person seeking to use the washroom must be permitted access, subject only to genuine safety protocol considerations. Oil marketing companies and their dealers may restrict access only when security or safety concerns exist.In its earlier interim order, the Court had observed that toilets in the private petroleum outlets are not open to general public.Today, Justice C S Dias, modified the order, while hearing the writ petition filed by the Petroleum Traders Welfare and Legal Service Society and five other petroleum retailers challenging the attempts made by the State Government and the local self-government institutions to convert the toilets in the outlets into public toilets.The order follows the submission of State of Kerala and eleventh Additional Respondent, Sakhi Women's Resource Centre, about guidelines issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), dated December 26, 2020 which requires fuel stations, private properties, rest areas, and similar facilities along National Highways to provide drinking water and toilet facilities for public use round-the-clock, with appropriate display boards indicating their availability.The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) submitted a counter affidavit as directed by the Court in earlier proceedings, which stated that its marketing guidelines require toilets to be available to all customers and transit travellers at all times, subject to safety protocols. However, IOC maintained that such facilities cannot automatically be categorised as “public toilets” by local bodies and that allowing access to the general public, beyond customers and travellers, remains at the discretion of the retail outlet dealer or manager. At the same time, the court prohibited the respondent Municipalities from installing boards labelling these facilities as “public toilets” in front of retail outlets.The Deputy Solicitor General sought time to counter the affidavit on behalf of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The counsel for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) also sought more time to submit their responses.Case Title - Petroleum Traders Welfare and Legal Service Society V State of KeralaCase No - WP(C) 9329/ 2025 Counsel for Petitioners - Adarsh Kumar, K M Aneesh, Shashank Sevan, Yadu Krishnan P M Counsel for Respondents - Suman Chakravarthy, O M Shalina (Deputy Solicitor General of India), Unnikrishnan V Alappat, Nithin George, M V Haridas Menon, Rithu Jose, Gopikrishnan Nambiar, K John Mathai, Joson Manavalan, Kuryan Thomas, Paulose C Abraham, Raja Kannan, Parvathi Menon, Meera R Menon, Biju Meenattoor, Devika J M, P Sanjay, Paul Varghese, Kiran Narayanan, Rahul Raj P, Muhammed Bilal V A. Click Here To Read/ Download Order

Toilets In Petrol Pumps Along National Highways Must Be Open To Public 24/7 : Kerala High Court

Anamika MJ

The Court clarified that access to toilets can be restricted only if there is a safety concern.

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