SECRETARY REGIONAL TRANSPORT AUTHORITY ALLAHABAD Vs. MAHMOOD AHMAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal by the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Allahabad, the Assistant Regional Trans port Officer (Enforcement) and the Trans port Commissioner, U. P. Lucknow, is directed against the judgment of a learn ed Single Judge, dated 12th February, 1974, allowing a petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution, filed by Sri Mah mood Ahmad.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the facts regard ing which, there is no controversy be tween the parties and which emerge from the various affidavits filed in the writ petition are that Sri Mahmood Ah mad made an application to the Regional Transport Authority, Allahabad, praying for the grant of a permanent stage carri age permit on Allahabad. Bahaganj via Lalgopalganj route. Aforesaid route co vered a distance of 40 miles out of which a distance of 24 miles, i.e. between Alla habad and Lalgopalganj formed part of the Allahabad-Unchahar via Lalgopalganj, route which is a nationalised route. The scheme under Chapter IV-A of the Motor Vehicles Act for nationalisation of Allhabad-Unchahar via Lalgopalganj route was published vide Notification No. 10-I/XXX-B-2(2)-B-60 dated 15th February, 1962 and in due course the same was fina lised and published in the U. P. Gazette, dated 2nd March, 1963. In view of the fact that the portion of the route be tween Allahabad and Lalgopalganj was overlapped by a nationalised route, the Regional Transport Authority vide its resolution dated 29th May, 1972, granted Mahmood Ahmad's application for permit with the modification that he could ply his stage carriage only between Lal-gopalganj and Bahaganj, Sri Mahmood Ahmad filed the writ petition, giving rise to the present appeal, on 24th July, 1972. In due course he got his writ petition amended and ultimately prayed that the Regional Transport Authority should be directed to consider petitioner's applica tion for permit on the Allahabad-Baha-ganj via Lalgopalganj route after impos ing corridor restriction that he may not pick up or set down passengers on the notified portion of the route between Allahabad and Lalgopalganj. According to him, it was not open to the Regional Transport Authority to refuse him per manent stage carriage permit on the Alla-habad-Bahaganj route merely on the ground that a portion of the route viz, between Allahabad-Lalgopalganj was a part of .the nationalised route, Allahabad-Unchahar via Lalgopalganj,

(3.) THE learned Single Judge re pelled the plea raised by the present ap pellant and after considering various pro visions of the scheme, concluded that grant of permit to a private operator on Allahabad- Bahaganj via Lalgopalganj route with corridor restrictions, namely that he would not pick up or set down passengers between Allahabad and Lal gopalganj, which formed part of the Alla habad-Unchahar route, would not be in derogation of the scheme framed under Chapter IV-A of the Motor Vehicles Act. Accordingly, he allowed the writ petition and after quashing the resolution of the Regional Transport Authority dated 29th May, 1972, to the extent that it refused to grant permit to Mahmood Ahmad for the entire route applied for by him, di rected the Regional Transport Authority to decide the matter afresh in accordance with law. The appellants have filed the present special appeal seeking to chal lenge the aforesaid order passed by the learned Single Judge.