- (1.) The petitioner, an intending applicant for the grant of a stage carriage permit on a certain route, challenges the legality of an order passed by the State Transport Authority, U.P., Lucknow (hereinafter referred to as the Transport Authority) granting temporary permission (for) a certain route. He also challenges the legality of the order passed by the State Transport Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as the Tribunal) dismissing the revision preferred by him against the order of the Transport Authority.
(2.) The route Etah-Mainpuri-via-Karnal (hereinafter referred to as the route) is covered by a notification issued under S.68C of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The, Transport Authority, keeping in view the need of the travelling public, commenced granting temporary permits on the route to the U.P. State Road Transport Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the Corporation) under S.68F(1A). It appears that on 16th Nov. 1981, temporary permits were granted to the respondents Nos. 3, 4, and 5 to be valid for a period of four months. The Transport Authority by an order dt. April, 5, 7 and 8, 1982, decided to grant three additional temporary permits on the route to the Corporation. On the same date it resolved that its Secretary would continue to issue temporary permits to the respondents 3, 4 and 5 at an interval of every four months. However, it made it clear that these permits would be issued unless and until the Corporation contains permits under S.68F(1A) or the route is declared a notified one by means of a notification under S.68D(3) of the Act, whichever event occurred earlier. The petitioner felt aggrieved and, therefore, challenged the legality of the said order by means of a revision No.143 of 1982 before the Tribunal. In a nutshell his case was that he had every intention to make an application for a temporary permit and the Transport Authority without giving him any opportunity of doing so passed the aforementioned order. In the revision the petitioner prayed that the orders dt. Nov. 16, 1981 and April 5, 7 and 8, 1982 passed by the Transport Authority may be set aside. The Tribunal rejected the revision on two grounds. First, the petitioner could not have any grievance as on April 5, 7 and 8, 1982. his application for temporary permit was not pending before the Transport Authority. Secondly, the revision was incompetent as therein a prayer had been made to quash two orders of different dates.
(3.) Before the amendment of the Act by Act No. 56 of 1969 the position was that permanent stage carriage permits could be granted on a route covered by a notification under S. 68C of the Act if with respect to it no notification under S.68D(3) had been issued. To put it differently, permanent permits could he granted to a private operator without any let or hindrance during the period when a notification under S.68C has been issued and the issue of a notification under S.68D(3) was being awaited. By Act 56 of 1969 Parliament made a drastic change and it imposed a ban on the grant of a permit during the period intervening between the date of publication under S.68C of any scheme and the date of publication of an approved or modified scheme, in relation to an area or route or portion thereof, covered by such scheme. However, being conscious of the growing need of the travelling public it diluted the rigour of the embargo by inserting Ss.68F(1A) and 68F(1C). These provisions may be read. "68F(1A)- Where any scheme has been published by a State Transport Undertaking under S.58C, that undertaking may apply for a temporary permit, in respect of any area or route or portion thereof specified in the said scheme, for the period intervening between the date of publication of the scheme and the date of publication of the approved or modified scheme, and where such application is made, the State Transport Authority or the Regional Transport Authority, as the case may be, shall, if it is satisfied that it is necessary to increase, in the public interest the number of vehicles operating in such area or route or portion thereof, issue the temporary permit prayed for by the State Transport Undertaking." "68F(1C):- If no application for a temporary permit is made under sub-sec. (1A), the State Transport Authority or the Regional Transport Authority, as the case may be. may grant, subject to such conditions as it may think fit, temporary permit to any person in respect of the area or route or portion thereof specified in the scheme and the permit so granted shall cease to be effective on the issue of a permit to the State Transport Undertaking in respect of that area or route or portion thereof.";