SIDHESWAR SEN Vs. APPELLATE COMMITTEE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY a notification dated January 15, 1955, the respondent Regional transport Authority, Hooghly, invited applications for grant of two stage carriage permits in Route No. 12 (Sheoraphuli- Tarakeswar ). Pursuant to the notification the petitioner applied for a permit So did a number of other applicants. The Regional Transport authority thereupon invited objections and representations, if any, to the candidature of the applicants and fixed October 7, 1955 for consideration. After consideration of objections, the Regional Transport Authority selected the petitioner and another candidate, by an order dated May 28, 1957, for grant of the permits, with direction to them to place on the road brand new buses of the specified capacity within two months. The order of the Regional Transport Authority was challenged in appeal before the Appellate Sub-Committee of the State Transport Authority by three sets of appellants. All the appeals were dismissed by the appellate Sub-Committee on September 10, 1957. The said appellants preferred further three appeals before respondent No. 1, an Appellate Committee constituted by the State Government, which committee remanded the matters to the Regional Transport Authority for consideration and report on certain specified points. Aggrieved by the order passed by the Appellate Committee constituted by the State Government the petitioner moved this Court, under Article 226 of the Constitution, for a Writ of Certiorari for the quashing of the order of the Appellate Committee and for a mandate upon the respondent No- 1, Appellate Committee not to further proceed with the hearing of the appeals and obtained this Rule.

(2.) MR. Anil Kumar Sinha, learned Advocate for the petitioner, contended that under the scheme of the Motor vehicles Act, there was no second appeal provided against the order of the appellate Committee of the State Transport authority and the Committee appointed by the State Government had no jurisdiction to hear the further appeal. An appeal is a creature of the statute. Section 64 of the Motor Vehicles Act provides for an appeal respectively from a decision of the Regional Transport authority or a State Transport Authority in the following language:

(3.) (A) The authority to decide an appeal against the orders of a Regional Transport Authority in respect of any of the matters referred to in clause (a), clause (b), clause (c), clause (d), clause (e), clause - (f), clause (g) or clause (h) of section 64 of the Act, including an order passed under sub-rule (h) of rule 64 and based on a resolution of the joint conference recorded under sub-rule (g) of the said rule in respect of any of the matters referred to in clause (a), clause (d) or clause (f) of the said section, shall be a Sub-Committee of the State Transport Authority consisting of- (1) the Chairman of the State transport Authority as Chairman, (2) the Secretary of the State transport Authority as Member secretary, (1) (3) one non-official member of state Transport Authority nominated by the State Government, (4) The Commissioner of the division having jurisdiction over the regions to which the appeal relates or, where the appeal relates to inter-regional routes falling both within the Presidency Division, and the Burdwan Division, the Commissioners of both the Divisions. (b) * * * * *"