CENTRAL KARNATAKA MOTOR SERVICES LTD Vs. MYSORE BOARD OF REVENUE BANGALORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner before us is a public limited company operating bus service. Pursuant to a notification published by the State Transport Authority, which is the 2nd respondent before us, under Section 57(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act calling for applications for the grant of a bus permit in the route Harihar-Agumble, the Petitioner and 23 other persons made applications for the grant of such permit. On 17-4-1956 on scrutiny of all the applications made before it the State Transport Authority rejected the application of the petitioner and of some of the other applicants as not being in the prescribed form. The said authority retained the applications of 11 persons whose applications they held were in the prescribed form. On 3rd July 1957 the State Transport Authority communicated its said Order to the Petitioner. Thereafter the Petitioner appealed to the Government, Pending the hearing of this appeal the State Reorganisation Act came into operation on 1-11-1956 and the power of hearing appeals against the orders of the State Transport Authority vested in the Board of Revenue. Thereupon the Government sent the said appeal to the Board of Revenue for disposal. The Board of Revenue felt some difficulty on the question as to whether or not any appeal lies against an order of this nature and they referred the matter to a Fuller Bench for decision. The Full Bench of the Board of Revenue came to the conclusion that no appeal lies against the said Order. The present application has been filed challenging the said decision of the Board of Revenue.

(2.) The petitioner has made two prayers in this petition. His first prayer is that the judgment and order of the Board of Revenue should be quashed. His second prayer is that if this Court comes to the conclusion that the said Order of the Board of Revenue was correct, then this Court should be pleased to quash the Order of the 2nd Respondent dated 17-4-1956 rejecting the application of the Petitioner. I shall take up these two matters one after the other.

(3.) In support of the prayer for quashing the Order of the Board of Revenue, the learned advocate for the Petitioner urged before us that S. 64 (a) of the Motor Vehicles Act allows an appeal to be filed against an order of this nature. section 64 (a) provides that any person aggrieved by the refusal of the State or a Regional Transport Authority to grant a permit, or by any condition attached to a permit granted to him, may within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner, appeal to the prescribed authority who shall give such person and the original authority an opportunity of being heard. It was contended before us that this was an Order which comes within clause (a) of the said section. In other words, it was contended that this was a case of refused by the State Transport Authority to grant a permit and is therefore governed by clause (A) of S. 64.