With one petrol pump in the capital being auctioned at Rs 3 crore recently, it's obvious that the stakes, and the patronage involved, are very high. It's equally obvious that though the sector is to be opened up in just a few years, the Ministry of Petroleum is loath to give up control.

The Ministry of Petroleum, which has recently appointed 45 ex-judges of high courts to chair three-men benches to make the selections, held a luncheon session at the Ashoka Hotel in the capital a few days ago, to explain the procedures to them, as well as to familiarise them with the industry. A total of 50 benches are to be set up.

While the public sector oil companies wereprivately complaining that they were being forced to spend around Rs 6 crore on just the selection process in which they would have little say, some of the ex-judges pointed out that the Rs 750 that they were to be given per day was too little. A couple of others felt that they should be entitled to use their own cars and charge the oil companies what they would otherwise have had to spend on hiring drivers and cars for them.

Interestingly, though it was a function organised by the Ministry, the officials in charge decided to break all protocol. While they had two senior officials from the oil companies, special secretary Devi Dayal and the Minister of State Santosh Gangwar on the dais, they also included A S Bhalla, who is the private secretary to the Minister Vazhappady Ramamurthy -- Vazhappady himself was not present at the function. Ministry officials denied that Bhalla was made to sit on the dais to indicate that he was a representative of Vazhappady, but had no suitable explanation as to why he wasthere.

Under the procedure laid down, each bench will be chaired by the ex-judge and will have one official from two oil companies -- one will belong to the company whose dealer is being appointed, while the other will belong to a rival company. All three members of the bench will have equal say in the final decision the ex-judges have been nominated by the Government, not the companies. And, given the kind of power that the Ministry wields, as in the past, it will simply tell the company directors nominated to each bench that certain favourites have to be appointed.

It is, in fact, for precisely this reason, and the kind of abuse that is potentially built into the system, that the United Front abolished the concept of appointing such benches for selecting oil dealers -- the United Front, however, failed to come up with any other alternative. This system of appointing ex-judges to head benches was first started in the early 1990's from four benches, it was increased to five, and then to 14. Now, theGovernment has increased it to 50.

Each oil company will have to find separate office space for the ex-judge to operate from the cities in which distributors are to be appointed. The office is to have one non-member secretary, one private assistant and a peon. The ex-judge is to be provided with a chauffeur-driven car, and an assistant at home. Roughly, that adds up to around Rs 1 lakh per month on each of the benches.

What is worrying the oil companies is that this is not the first time that Ramamurthy has sought to bulldoze them, to suit his whims and fancies. Just a few months ago, he ordered them to pay between Rs 2 crore and 3 crore for setting up schools in his constituency -- this was scuttled when opposition parties threatened to make a big fuss. And, last week, through Ministry officials, he ordered oil companies to come out with huge advertisements with his picture (along with the Prime Minister and Gangwar's) and talk of the achievements during his tenure.