LAKSHMANA REDDY Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Because a common question of law arises for consideration in the above, writ petitions, they are heard together and disposed of by this common order.

(2.) The petitioners in the above petitions ware applicants for the grant of permits to ply stage carriages under Sec.46 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The State Transport Appelate Tribunal (herenafter referred to as the Tribunal) which disposed of the appeals in which the applications made by the petitioners came up for consideration, held that such of the petitioners in the above petitions in whose history sheets there were more than six entries relating to offences committed within 24 months preceding the date on which the application for the grant of permit came up for consideration before the Regional Transport Authority were disqualified under Rule 104A(1) (iii) (b) of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Rule 1963, and in the ease of other petitioners it directed an enquiry by the RTA into the question whether they were disqualified under the aforemantioned rule or not before disposing of their applications for the permit. Aggrieved by the orders passed by the Tribunal, the petitioners have filed these petitions. The common question which arises for consideration in these petitions is the validity of Rule 104A(1), (iii) (b) by which the RTA and the STAT are precluded from considering the applications of persons in whose history sheets there are six entries relating to offences committed within 24 months preceding the date on a which their applications are considered by the RTA. The relevant Rule) reads as follows :

(3.) A plain reading of the Rule extracted above suggests that the RTA and the STAT cannot consider an application made by a person for the grant of a stage carriage; permit if his history sheet is not clean, and contains more than six .entries relating to offences committed within 24 months preceding the date of grant o-f the permit. It does not give any discretion to the authorities concerned to consider the nature and gravity of the offences committed by the applicant, the number of stage carriages owned by the applicant and the length of the routes and the area in which the services owned by the applicant are operated.