1 person, 1 LPG connection

CHENNAI: A person can  have only one cooking gas connection even though he has two residences, the Madras High Court has held.Justice V Ramasubramanian made the observation while dismissing a writ petition seeking to declare the action of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in stopping supply of cooking gas to the petitioner as arbitrary and violative of Article 21 of the Constitution. Petitioner RMuthukrishnan of Nagapattinam district said despite producing necessary documents, the refill was not supplied. He contended that he did not hold multiple connections.  In its counter affidavit, the IOC said the petitioner initially availed himself of a gas connection from an agency at Adyar in Chennai. The connection was transferred to Nagapattinam in 2001. During a check of domestic installations, the gas agency found two domestic connections existing at the petitioner’s Nagapattinam address. Under the LPG Order, a person could not possess more than one connection, it contended.Rejecting petitioner’s contentions, the judge said after the amendment to the LPG Order, he could have only one domestic connection under the PDS. He could not have one connection under the PDS in each of his residences, the judge added.