AGRAWAL, C. J. - (1.) THIS writ petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution, has been preferred by Yadunath Singh, resident of Bharatpur. He was an operator on the route-Bharatpur to Basedi holding one non-temporary stage carriage permit valid upto 21st Sept. , 1994.
(2.) A draft scheme under section 68-C of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) was published in the newspaper 'rajasthan Rajpatra' on 26. 7. 1986 inviting objections with regard to the route Bharatpur-Basedi via Sewad-Fatehpur Mundera Rudawal Badi Mod and portions thereof. An objection to the draft scheme was filed by the petitioner which was rejected by the competent authority. Before the scheme was finalised the Old Act was repealed and New Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 came into force with effect from 1. 7. 1989. Sub-section (1) read with Cl. (e) of S. 217 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the New Act) reads as-under : - "any scheme made under section 68-C of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, or under the corresponding law, if any, in force in any State and pending immediately before the commencement of this Act shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of section 100 of the Act. " It has been held in Sardar Singh's case that to the old scheme initiated under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, new Act will apply. Sub-section (3)of S. 100 of the new Act lays down that the approved draft scheme has to be published in not less than one newspaper in the regional language circulating in the area of route covered by the said scheme and the same shall thereupon become final from the date of its publication and shall be called the approved scheme. Sub-section (4) of S. 100 of the New Act provides that where a scheme in not published as an approved scheme in the Official Gazette within a period of one year from the date of the proposal regarding the scheme was published in the official Gazette, the proposal shall be deemed to have lapsed.
(3.) THE submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner was that as the scheme under sub-section (4) had not been finalised till one year from the date of publication of the proposal the same had lapsed and that the State Government could not treat it to be surviving and acting on its basis. In other words the nationalisation of the proposed draft scheme published on 26. 7. 86 had lapsed and no right under the same could accrue to the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation Parivahan Marg, Jaipur (hereinafter referred to as the Corporation), for treating the route, Bharatpur-Basedi via Sewad, Fatehpur, Mundera Rudawal, Badi Mod, etc. as nationalised. The submission of the petitioner's counsel was countered by Sri R. N. Munshi appearing for the Corporation. He submitted that under sub-section (3) of Section 100 of the new Act a draft scheme becomes final from the date of its publication in the Official Gazettee. It is only a draft scheme being approved by the authority in the manner provided by the new Act, that it becomes the approved scheme on publication in the Official Gazette. The period of one year mentioned in sub-section (4) has to be counted with effect from the publication of the approved scheme in the Official Gazette. Learned counsel for the Corporation-respondent No. 4. urged that the word approved scheme ' has a definite meaning and that in order to interpret sub-section (4) of S. 100 of the new Act it is necessary to go by the word of the statute and not by making references to the past history or by the ipse dixi to flaw of interpretation. ;