Overview

• Justice P. G. Ajithkumar granted an interim order preventing the state government and Thiruvananthapuram Corporation from compelling petroleum retailers to open toilets to all users.
• The Petroleum Traders Welfare and Legal Service Society and five other retailers filed a writ petition challenging efforts to convert private fuel station washrooms into public facilities.
• Retailers argued that station restrooms are intended solely for emergency use by customers refueling vehicles and cannot accommodate high-volume public traffic.
• Petitioners maintained that neither the Petroleum Act nor the Petroleum Rules, 2002, empower authorities to mandate public use of private station toilets.
• The court instructed state and municipal authorities to produce any Swachh Bharat Mission guidelines related to public sanitation access at fuel outlets.