Esso (Acquisition of Undertakings in India) Act, 1974

The petitioners, former officers of Caltex Oil Refining (India) Ltd. (CORIL), challenged HPCL's 1980 rationalisation scheme that integrated management staff of CORIL, ESSO and Lube India into HPCL pay‑grades. They alleged that the scheme was arbitrary because HPCL failed to equate posts on the basis of functional simil…

The three oil companies (Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum) held long‑term leases on land, constructed petrol pumps and then sub‑let the premises to dealers. The landlords filed ejectment suits and the companies sought orders under Section 9 of the Madras City Tenants’ Protection Act, 1921 for the sa…

Esso Eastern Inc., later Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., occupied a flat in Shyam Co‑operative Housing Society on a leave‑and‑licence basis from 1968, with the licence renewed yearly. By 1 February 1973 a subsisting licence existed, rendering the occupier a "deemed tenant" under section 15A of the Bombay Rent Act…

The landlord leased premises to Esso Company in 1969. When Esso merged into Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPC) in 1974, the landlord filed an eviction suit under the Karnataka Rent Control Act, 1961 alleging sub‑letting. The lower courts dismissed the suit, holding that under the Esso (Acquisition of Undertaking…