BSHIVANNA Vs. BOARD OF REVENUE IN MYSORE BANGALORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition has been filed against an order of the Board of Revenue dated 6-6-1957. The contention of the petitioner before us is that the Board of Revenue has, on an erroneous view of the matter failed to exercise jurisdiction. The matter arises in this way :

(2.) The predecessor in interest of the petitioner before us, one Gopalan, had a permit for the route between Bangalore and Sidlaghatta, the distance of which is 50 miles. The fourth respondent also had a permit in respect of the said route. On 17-12-1952, a fresh permit was granted to the petitioner's predecessor. In that permit no timings were mentioned. It was granted by the Chairman, Mysore State Transport Authority. Thereafter, it appears, the Regional Transport Authority of Kolar District, within which a part of the route between Bangalore to Sidlaghatta falls, gave him a permit, No. BP. 160/53-54, in which the timings for the trips between Sidlaghatta and the district border of Kolar District were fixed. The 4th respondent who, as I have mentioned, had also a permit in the said route, thereafter ascertaining from the Regional Transport Authority. Kolar, about it, preferred an appeal to the State Transport Authority, against the said order of the Regional Transport Authority, Kolar, giving the said permit No. BP. 160/53-54 whereby timings were fixed for the trips between Sidlaghatta and the District border of Kolar. In that appeal it was contended that the Regional Transport Authority had no authority to fix timings and the jurisdiction to fix timings was only of the State Transport Authority. Pending the hearing of this appeal, the State Transport Authority gave a direction to the Regional Transport Authority, Kolar, to change the said timings. Thereupon, the Regional Transport Authority at Kolar fixed certain other timings for the departure of the petitioner's bus from Sidlaghatta. Thereafter when the appeal finally came up for hearing before the State Transport Authority, the Stale Transport Authority by its order dated 5-12-1956 set aside the order of the Regional Transport Authority, Kolar, fixing the time for leaving of the Petitioner's bus from Sidlaghalta for the border of the Kolar District on the ground that the Regional Transport Authority had no jurisdiction to fix timings of buses and it was the State Transport Authority which had the jurisdiction to fix such timings. Having set aside that order of the Regional Transport Authority, Kolar, the Stale Transport Authority made an order that it was open to the respondent to propose suitable timings for his service and (get) the same assigned by the State Transport Authority which is the competent authority to as-sign timings on a through route like this and till then timings assigned to the Respondent's (present petitioner's) service by the Chairman, Regional Transport Authority, Kolar on 10-7-1956 permitting him to depart from Sidlaghatta at 5 p.m. with continuation timings in Bangalore District limits and retaining the forward journey timings from Bangalore may he continued till timings are finalised by the State Transport Authority to the service of the respondent.

(3.) Against this order, the petitioner appealed to the Board of Revenue. The Board of Revenue dismissed the appeal on two grounds. In the first place, it held that the assignment of timings to the appellant's service on a through route is a matter which rested with the State Transport Authority and there can be no appeal against the decision of the State Transport Authority fixing such timings. The other ground on which the decision of the Board of Revenue was based was that even if the present appeal is maintainable in law even then it is seen that the State Transport Authority who is the competent authority to assign timings for running buses on a through route has not passed final orders and the appeal is therefore premature. On these two grounds, the Board of Revenue dismissed the said appeal. The present petition has been filed against the said decision of the Board of Revenue.