K.C.Agrawal, J. - (1.) In this bunch of writ petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, common question as to the validity of the notification dated 10th Jan. 1931, issued under Section 43-A of U. P. Motor Vehicles Act, as amended by the U. P. Legislature, has been raised. The aforesaid Notification reads as under :- "Whereas the Government of Uttar Pradesh is of opinion that it is in the public interest to grant stage carriage permits (except in respect of routes or areas for which schemes have been published under Section 68-C of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939), to all eligible applicants. Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers under Section 43-A (the Government of) Uttar Pradesh is pleased to direct that the stage carriage permits (except in respect of routes or areas for which schemes have been published under Section 68-C of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939), shall be granted according to the provisions of the said Act to eligible applicants and there shall be no upper limit to the number of stage carriages for which permits may be permitted."
(2.) Chapter IV of the Motor Vehicles Act deals with "Control of Transport Vehicles." Section 47 of the aforesaid Chapter deals with the procedure of a Regional Transport Authority in considering applications for stage carriage permits. This section, as it stood before the promulgation of U. P. Ordinance 9 of 1972 ran as under :- "(1) A Regional Transport Authority shall, in considering an application for a stage carriage permit, have regard to the following matters namely :- (a) the interest of the public generally; (b) the advantages to the public of the Service to be provided, including the saving of time likely to be effected thereby and any convenience arising from journeys not being broken : (c) the adequacy of other passenger transport services operating or likely to operate in the near future, whether by road or other means, between the places to be served :-( d) the benefit to any particular locality or localities likely to be afforded by the service: (e) the operation by the applicant of other transport services, including those in respect of which applications from him for permits are pending ; (f) the Condition of the roads included in the proposed route or area, and shall also take into consideration any representations made by persons already providing passenger transport facilities by any means along or near the proposed route or area, or by any association representing persons interested in the provision of road transport facilities recognised in this behalf by the State Government, or by any local authority or police authority within whose jurisdiction any part of the proposed route or area lies; ........... (2) ........ (3) A Regional Transport Authority may having regard to the matters mentioned in Sub-section (1) limit the number of stage-carriages generally, or of any specified type for which stage-carriage permits may be granted in the region or in any specified area or any specified route within the region."
(3.) Section 43-A was inserted by U. P. Ordinance No. 9 of 1972, which was replaced by the Motor Vehicles (Uttar Pradesh Amendment) Act, 1972 (U. P. Act 25 of 1972). The Statement of Objects and Reasons while introducing the Bill, which took the shape of U. P. Act 25 of 1972, ran as follows :- "Operators engaged in a race for securing permits for stage carriage on non nationalised routes. Due to limitation on the number of permits this business is controlled by a few persons. Complaints in this regard are made every day. Therefore, with a view to making it easier to secure permits in respect of non-nationalised routes and to introducing simplicity in procedure and to providing greater employment and securing equitable distribution thereof it was considered necessary to amend Sections 47, 50, 55, 57 and 64 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, suitably. Accordingly, in the public interest and with the aforesaid objects in view the Motor Vehicles (Uttar Pradesh Amendment) Ordinance, 1972, was promulgated. This bill is introduced to replace the said Ordinance.";