AMRELI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) RULE. Learned counsel for the respondents waive service of Rule on behalf of respective respondents. At the request of learned counsel for the parties, this petition is taken up for final hearing.

(2.) AMRELI Chamber of Commerce, through its President, and Sudhir Vallabhdas Rangparia, a resident of Amreli, by way of the present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, challenge the legality and validity of Notification dated 7th December 1992, after lapse of 16 years, on the ground that respondent No. 2- District Magistrate, Amreli, has no power to issue such notification in exercise of powers under Section 33 (1) (b) of the Bombay Police Act, 1951. By the impugned notification, the District Magistrate, Amreli, has provided alternative places of parking for buses, trucks, rickshaws and taxis.

(3.) THE learned counsel for the petitioners submits that, as provided under Section 117 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, [for short, 'the Act'], the State Government or any authority authorized in this behalf by the State Government, in consultation with the local authority having jurisdiction in the area concerned may determine places at which the motor vehicles may stand either indefinitely or for a specified period of time and may determine the places at which public service vehicles may stop, etc, and, in Rule 188 of the Gujarat Motor Vehicle Rules, 1981 ['rules' for short], in consultation with the local authority, the Regional Transport Authority may, by notification in the official gazette in respect of picking up and setting down of passengers or both by public service vehicles, make such provision. Therefore, such powers can be exercised by the Competent Authority in exercise of powers under Section 117 of the Act read with Rule 188 of the Rules. In the present case, respondent No. 2 has no jurisdiction to exercise power under Section 33 (1) (b) of the Bombay Police Act and, therefore, issuance of the said notification in exercise of such power deserves to be quashed and set aside by this Court in exercise of power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.