J.N.Takru, J. - (1.) Sri Chandrapai has filed this petition praying that this Court might be pleased to punish the respondents for committing contempt of this Court.
(2.) The undisputed facts on which this petition is based, stated briefly, are these : The petitioner was a stage-carriage-permit-holder on the Bulandshahr Jahangirabad-Ahar route while the respondents Nos. 1 and 3 to 53, who were also stage-carriage permit-holders, had licences to operate on the Bulandshahr-Anupshahr-Dibai-Ramghat-Narora, or the Bulandshahr-Sahpur-Dibai-Ramghat routes. In 1965, the respondents Nos. 1 and 3 to 53 made applications to the Regional Transport Authority, Meerut for the inclusion of the petitioner's route in their permits. These applications were opposed by the petitioner and the other operators of the petitioner's route. The applications as also the objections came up for the consideration of the Regional Transport Authority Meerut at its meeting on the 21st of March, 1966, and on the same day the said authority rejected the objections of the petitioner etc., and by its resolution order of date allowed the applications of the respondents concerned. The petitioner there upon filed writ petition No, 1154 of 1966 in this Court challenging the legality of the said resolution/order. T he writ petition was admitted on the 29th of March, 1966, by Dwivedi and Khare JJ. and an ad interim stay order was passed by them the same day in the following terms : "Until further orders we stay the operation of the order of the Regional Transport Authority Meerut dated March 21, 1966 extending the routes of the Respondents 4 to 57." The stay order was served on the Regional Transport Officer on the 1st of April, 1966, and on the same day he issued letters to the President and the General Secretary of the Bulandshahr-Anupshahr-Narora-Motor Operators Union, Anupshahr, respondents Nos. 1 and 24 respectively to this petition, informing them about the aforesaid stay order and directing them to comply with it.
(3.) The case for the petitioner is that despite the respondents Nos. 1 and 2 to 53 having come to know of the afore said stay order on the 1st April 1966, they did not refrain from plying their vehicles on the petitioner's route, with the result that on the 4th April 1966 the President of the Union concerned with the petitioner's route, sent telegrams to the Superintendent of Police and the District Magistrate, Bulandshahr and the Regional Transport Authority, Meerut informing them about the plying by the operators of the Bulandshahr-Anupshahr-Narora-Motor Operators' Union of their vehicles via Jahangirabad in contravention of this Court's order dated the 29th of March, 1966, and praying for appropriate action in order to avoid breach of peace. On receipt of this telegram the District Magistrate sent a letter to the Station Officer, Jahangirabad on the 8th of April, 1966, directing him to see that this Court's order was enforced ; and, whether a result of that order or otherwise, the respondents stopped plying their vehicles on the petitioner's route from the same day. Thereafter on the 28ih of April, 1966 two operators whose permits had also been extended so as to include the petitioners route but whose permits for those new routes had not been endorsed by the time of the passing of this Court's order on the 29th March, 1966, moved an application in this Court praying for the vacation of the said stay order. This application came up for hearing before Dwivedi J. who, after hearing the learned counsel for the parties, modified the said stay order on the 18th March, 1966 to this extent that he held that it did not operate against operators.;