ABDUL RAHIMAN Vs. RANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is against the judgment of the learned single Judge in OP No. 7306/85. The relevant facts necessary for the disposal of this appeal may briefly be stated as follows: The second respondent, the Regional Transport Authority, Palghat invited applications for grant of stage carriage permit for the route Pazbayannur-Govindapuratn. The notification inviting applications issued under S.57(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act published in the gazette of 20th of September, 1973 stated that the applications will be received within thirty days from the date of publication of the notification in the gazette and that applications received beyond the prescribed time will not be considered. The appellant and the first respondent both submitted their applications. It appears that there was one more person who also made an application. Thus it is not disputed that there were three applications before the Regional Transport Authority in response to the invitation of the Regional Transport Authority. The Regional Transport Authority rejected all the three applications by its resolution dated the 9th of March, 1975 and directed fresh notification being issued for inviting applications. The said decision was challenged by the appellant and the first respondent in appeals before the State Transport Appellate Tribunal, Ernakulam. The said Tribunal allowed both the appeals and directed the Regional Transport Authority to dispose of the same on merits as early as possible. The third applicant not having challenged the adverse decision of the Regional Transport Authority, the competition thus stood confined to the appellant and the first respondent. The first respondent challenged the decision of the State Transport Appellate Tribunal, Ext. P4, which directed the application of the appellant to be considered on merits. The learned single Judge has allowed the said original petition and quashed the order of the State Transport Appellate Tribunal so far as it directed that the appellant's application should be considered on merits. It is the said decision of the learned single Judge that is challenged in this appeal.

(2.) It was contended by Sri. M. P. R. Nair, learned counsel for the appellant, that the learned single Judge was not right in taking the view that the appellant's application having been filed 8 days after the last date fixed in the notification issued by the Regional Transport Authority, the said application was liable to be rejected. It was further contended that at any rate the learned single Judge should have directed that the appellant's application should be treated as a suo motu application and clubbed along with the application of the first respondent and disposed of on merits.

(3.) S.57 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') provides the procedure in applying for and granting permits. Sub-s. (1) of S.57 deals with applications for grant of contract carriage permits or private carriage permits. Sub-s. (2) with which we are concerned in this case deals with application for stage carriage permits and reads as follows: