TOUR COORDINATOR ASSOCIATION Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since these writ petitions involve the identical facts and raise similar issues we propose to dispose of these writ petitions by one common order.

(2.) . The writ petitioners are engaged in the profession of Tourist Guides/Escorts and being engaged by various travel agencies of repute for the purpose of taking the foreign tourists to the various monuments and historical places and other places of interest including Delhi, Agra, Jaipur etc. for a number of years. Some of the petitioners herein have also successfully completed the course conducted by the Indian Association of Tour Operators and Travel Agents Association of India. The petitioners in Civil Writ Petitions No. 3120/ 1995 and 2970/1995 fall in the said category. The petitioners however, have not been provided with any license for the purpose of working as Tourist Guides/ Escorts as required under Rule 8(d) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1969. The grievance of the petitioners, as it appears from the various writ petitions put up before us for our decision was that for the last many years and atleast since 1984 no examination or test had been held by the respondents to grant licenses to the petitioners though they had been working as such for all this period. The petitioners further stated before us that for the purpose of granting such a license to the petitioners as Tourist Guides some of them approached this court earlier by means of a writ petition which was disposed of by a common order and judgment by this court. The petitioners have annexed a copy of the aforesaid judgment and order passed by this court on 16.11.1994 in the various Civil Writ petitions including C.W.P. 741/1994. By the aforesaid judgment and order this court directed that the respondents should hold the necessary examination/test for grant of license to the petitioners as Tourist Guides and that till such time the examination is held and results are declared all the petitioners in the writ petition would continue to work as Tourist/Escorts subject to the condition that there shall not be any complaint against any one of them.

(3.) . The petitioners now allege before us that inspite of the aforesaid judgment and order passed by this court directing for holding of the examination/test for grant of license to the petitioner as Tourist Guides no such examination has been held so far and instead the petitioners are being restrained from working as Tourist Guides and therefore, the petitioners seek directions from this court to implement the direction given in the earlier writ petition by this court referred to above.