S.J.Hyder, J. - (1.) The business of operating public service vehicles is a trade regulated under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, hereinafter referred to as the Act. The process of regulation of the trade and the hierarchy of the Tribunal constituted to give effect to the regulatory provisions of the Act is in itself a fruitful source of litigation between persons competing to enter or to expand their trade. A further complication has been introduced by the policy of nationalising some routes. Another factor which has contributed to increased litigation is that the State Government has looked at the problem of public interest from different standpoints from time to time. All these elements have combined together and are reflected in the present bunch of five writ petitions which we are called upon to decide. Since the question of factual involvement in all these cases are common and the dispute in the writ petition relates to the same route we propose to decide these writ petitions by a common judgment.
(2.) There is a route known as Saha-ranpur to Muzaffarnagar via Baman Heri, Deoband, Nagal, and Gagal Heri. This whole of the said route formerly lay within the jurisdiction of the Regional Transport Authority, Meerut and had the sanctioned strength of 25 buses. On June 13, 1959 nine vacancies on the said route existed which were notified by the Regional Transport Authority on June 26, 1959. In response to the said notification 1096 applications were made by different persons. All these applications were published for objection on February 1, 1960, On May 12, 1961 the Regional Transport Authority, decided to raise the strength of the route from 25 to 32. Sometime in Sept. 1961 a new region with its headquarters at Dehra Dun was created and thereafter the Regional Transport Authority, Meerut transferred all the applications which had been received by it for the vacancies on the route to the Regional Transport Authority, Dehra Dun since the major portion of the route lay within the jurisdiction of the newly created region. In this judgment the expression Regional Transport Authority, Dehra Dun shall be hereinafter referred to as the RTA.
(3.) In its meeting held on Feb. 19 and 20 the RTA decided not to notify any further applications for the existing vacancies on the route. In its meeting held on April 6 and 7, 1966 the RTA granted permits to 10 applicants, Against the decision of the R.T.A. 32 applicants who had failed to obtain permits filed appeals before the State Transport Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as STAT. During the pendency of the said appeals some additional vacancies came into existence and they were notified on June 29, 1967. In response to the said notification a number of persons applied for the grant of permits including Cherkesh Kumar Jain petitioner No. 3 in writ petition No. 1647 of 1973. The application of Cherkesh Kumar Jain was rejected and he filed an appeal before the STAT. The said appeal was allowed by order dated Feb. 2, 1972 and the case was remanded for a fresh decision to the RTA.;