Woman Unfairly Denied LPG Connection Under 'PM Ujjwala Yojana', Allahabad High Court Comes To Her Rescue
The Allahabad High Court recently came to the rescue of a woman who was unfairly denied an LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
A bench consisting of Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Manjive Shukla issued a directive on July 3 requiring the authorities to provide the woman with an LPG connection within seven days.
This order resulted in the woman promptly receiving her connection under the 'Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana', along with the gas booking booklet and other relevant documents.
The division bench was essentially dealing with a writ petition filed by Jyoti Devi, a resident of Jalaun district. She had moved the Court seeking a writ mandamus to compel authorities to issue her an LPG connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
The PMUY, a flagship scheme launched by the Indian government, aims to provide free LPG connections to women from below-poverty-line households. However, the petitioner faced repeated rejections despite meeting all eligibility criteria.
The petitioner also requested a directive for the authorities to address earlier representations she moved before the authorities, including the Gas Agency (respondent no. 4).
During the court proceedings, it was discovered that an LPG connection had been unreasonably issued to a male recipient, a relative of the Pradhan of the village where the woman lives.
Taking note of this, the Court called it surprising that the connection was issued to a male, despite it being the scheme's policy mandating that connections be issued only in the name of women.
“It is very surprising for this Court that once there is a provision under the 'Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana' that L.P.G. connection can be released only in the name of a female candidate then how could the L.P.G. connection have been issued in the name of a male candidate,” the Court remarked in its July 3 order.
In the same order, the Court instructed the District Magistrate of Jalaun to appear in person if the petitioner-woman was not provided with the LPG connection, gas booking booklet, and other relevant documents by July 9, to explain the situation.
"If by the next date fixed, petitioner is not provided L.P.G. connection under the 'Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana' alongwith gas booking booklet and other relevant papers then, in order to explain the matter, the District Magistrate, Jalaun shall appear in person before this Court," the Court directed in its July 3 order.
However, on the next date (July 9), the Court was informed that the LPG connection had been issued to the woman petitioner. In view of this, the court deemed the matter resolved and disposed of the petition.
Appearances
Counsel for Petitioner: Ram Sagar Yadav, Vijay Singh Rathore
Counsel for Respondent: C.S.C.,Sanjeev Kumar Singh
Case title - Jyoti Devi vs. State Of Up And 3 Others 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 486
Case citation: 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 486