PRASHANT J CHAVDA Vs. V R SHAH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners who are hand-cart pullers have challenged the provisions of Sections 3, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the Bombay Public Conveyances Act, 1920, on the ground that they are ultra-vires the Constitutional provisions being violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the petitioners by Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) The petitioners are admittedly drawing wheeled hand-carts for conveyance of goods. According to them, there are about 12,000 hand-carts plied in the city by persons who mostly hail from Rajasthan. Under the provisions of the said Act, they are required to obtain a licence which is to be renewed from year to year. Section 3(1) of the Act provides that no person shall keep or let for hire any public conveyance without a licence granted by the Commissioner of Police. The expression "public conveyance" is defined in Section 2(b) so as to mean any wheeled vehicle drawn or propelled on roads and used for the purposes of plying for hire for the conveyance of persons or goods but does not include a motor vehicle as defined in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, or a vehicle running upon fixed rails. The word "driver" is defined so as to include a conductor, attendant or other persons in charge of a public conveyance. The definition of word "driver" in Section 2(d) of the said Act is inclusive one and it need not be confined to drivers of horses as suggested by the petitioners. In the context of the provisions of the said Act, the driver clearly includes a human being who draws a hand-cart which is used for conveyance of goods. It is therefore clear that a hand-cart which is a wheeled vehicle and is drawn on roads would be a public conveyance, if it is used for the purpose of plying for hire for the conveyance of goods. The petitioners are drawing i.e. pulling hand-carts on roads for the purpose of conveyance of goods. Therefore, they are drivers who are drawing public conveyance within the meaning of Clauses (b) and (c) of Section 2 of the Act. Merely because hand-carts are drawn on the roads by human beings, they do not cease to be public conveyance as defined in the said provision, when they are used for conveying goods.

(3.) Section 11 of the said Act provides that no person shall Act as driver of a public conveyance without a licence granted by the Commissioner of Police for the purpose and that such licence shall remain in force for the licensing year, unless sooner determined under the said Act, and further that they would be renewable. The licence would contain particulars and conditions as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Police. While granting licence to a driver, the Commissioner of Police shall provide him with a metal badge bearing the number of the licence as laid down by Section 13 (1) of the Act and such badge is to be conspicuously worn by the driver when pursuing his occupation as such driver. Section 14 provides for grant of licence to a driver on a fee which shall be charged at the rate prescribed by the Commissioner of Police.