SHAIK ALI Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution for the issue of a Writ of Certiorari to quash a notification issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh (G. O. Ms. No. 296, Home (Transport-IV), dated 12/02/1963 approving a scheme of nationalisation of road transport in respect of the route Hyderabad to Kalvakurthy, and also to quash the order of the Regional Transport Authority, Mahabubnagar, dated 25th February, 1964 (in C. No. 11873/A2/63), whereby an application of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (which will be, referred to as the Corporation) for the issue of three stage carriage permits in respect of the notified route Hyderabad to Kalvakurthy, was granted and the existing permits of the three petitioners were cancelled.

(2.) The facts material for the purpose of this writ petition are as follows: The three petitioners are motor transport operators who had been plying their vehicles for a long time on the route -- Hyderabad to Kalvakurthy. While so, the Corporation, acting under Section 63-C of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter called the Act) published a draft Scheme prepared by it in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette under date 31/05/1962, with a view to nationalising road transport on the route Hyderabad to Kalvakurthy and eliminating the existing private operators. The draft Scheme was in the following form:

(3.) It will be noticed that the Scheme indicated the minimum and maximum number of vehicles proposed to be operated on the route as also the total number of minimum and maximum daily trips each way. The minimum number of vehicles was shown as 3 and the maximum as 6; likewise the minimum number of daily trips each way was shown as 3 and the maximum number as 6.