SRMS TOURIST SERVICE CO Vs. SECRETARY RTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These petitions raise a short but not, to my mind, an easy point. The question is, whether a special permit in relation, to a public service vehicle, granted under S.63(6) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, hereinafter called the Act, falls within the meaning of a contract carriage permit.

(2.) All that I need state of the facts are: The petitioners are operators of stage carriage or contract carriage services in the State of Karnataka. Often they undertake to carry tourist passengers or marriage parties to various places both inside and outside the State. They applied to the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority of their respective jurisdiction under S.63(6), to grant special permits for a couple of days to convey tourists from place to place. But the Regional Transport Officer rejected their applications on the sole ground that he has no jursdication to grant special premit since there is a scheme published under S.68C of the Act proposing to nationalise the contract carriages throughout the limits of the Karnataka State to the complete exclusion of the other operators with an exception stated in the said scheme itseaf. Challenging the validity of his decision, the petitioners have moved this Court with petitions under Arts.226 and 227 erf the Constitution and that is how the matters are before ma

(3.) Before, I proceed to consider the provisions of the! Act bearing on the question, it is necessary to set out hereunder the relevant portions of the scheme above referred to. The scheme was published by notification dt.9th May 1974 in the Kar. Gazette of 16th May 1974, and reads as follows: