Gupta, J. - (1.) The second Respondent in this appeal, North Bengal State Transport Corporation, which was established under the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950, is a State Transport undertaking as defined in Sec. 68A of the Motor Vehicles Act. Sec. 68A is in chap. IV -A of the Act which makes certain special provisions relating to State Transport undertakings and includes Ss. 68A to 68J.
(2.) Sec. 68C which provides for preparation and publication of scheme of road transport service of a State Transport undertaking states that the State Transport undertaking may prepare such scheme, if it is of the opinion that for the purpose of providing an efficient, adequate, economical and properly co -ordinated road transport service, it is necessary in the public interest that road transport services in general or any particular class of such service in relation to any area or route or portion thereof should be run and operated by the State Transport undertaking, whether to the exclusion, complete or partial, of other persons or otherwise.
(3.) The scheme concerned in the present case covers the entire districts of Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri and Siliguri Sub -division of the district of Darjeeling and a large number of routes in the area including the Cooch Behar -Falakata -Dalgaon -Goerkata -Dhupguri -Mal -Siliguri -Jalpaiguri route. This scheme as modified by the State Government was duly published and thereupon, in terms of Sec. 68D(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, the scheme became the approved scheme and the area and the routes to which it relates became respectively the notified area and the notified routes. This scheme excludes all persons from operating any road transport service in the area and the routes mentioned in the scheme except persons who may have been operating any passenger transport service in the said routes on September 1, 1961. The first Respondent in this appeal had been plying stage carriages along the Jalpaiguri -Siliguri route on the aforesaid date. The Jalpaiguri -Siliguri route is a part of the Cooch Behar -Falakata -Dalgaon -Goerkata -Dhupguri -Mal -Siliguri -Jalpaiguri route referred to above.;