The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ordered that all petrol pumps located along National Highways in the state must keep their washrooms open to the public round the clock.

Modifying an earlier order, Justice C S Dias made it clear that washrooms at these outlets should be accessible to anyone, including travellers and customers, at any time of the day. It also ordered to install display boards informing the public of the availability of the facility.

The Court further said that similar access must be granted to all customers and transit travellers at retail outlets across the state. Access can only be denied in genuine safety or security-related situations, the Court clarified. In such cases, oil marketing companies or pump owners may restrict entry, but only with valid reasons.

Earlier, the Court had observed that toilets in the private petroleum outlets are not open to general public. 

However, the court revoked its earlier judgment 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 washrooms in the outlets into public toilets.

The order follows the submission of Kerala government about guidelines issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on December 26, 2020. These guidelines require fuel stations, rest areas, and similar facilities along National Highways to provide 24/7 access to drinking water and toilets for public use, along with signboards indicating their availability.

In response to earlier court directions, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) also filed a counter affidavit. IOC stated that its internal marketing rules already require toilets at petrol pumps to be available at all times to customers and transit travellers, as long as safety protocols are followed.

However, IOC argued that these toilets should not be treated as "public toilets" by local authorities and said that full public access, beyond just customers and travellers, should be left to the discretion of the outlet's dealer or manager.

At the same time, the court prohibited municipalities from installing boards labelling fuel station toilets as 'public toilets'. 

Meanwhile, the Deputy Solicitor General sought additional time to file a response on behalf of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Similarly, counsel representing Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) also requested more time to submit their replies.

(With inputs from  LiveLaw)